Once Upon A Maybe
by mangospoons
Summary: Hinata, heiress to Byakugan Corporate, has never really had much luck in love - but when she stumbles upon a bewitched frog named Naruto, suddenly everything in her world begins to change, turning her simple life into a very fractured fairytale! NaruHina
1. Prologue

**A new twist  
on an old favorite.**

**xoxo,  
Spoons**

DISC): I do not own Naruto or this classic fairytale. What else is new...

**Once Upon a Maybe  
**…A very Fractured Fairytale…

**~ Prologue ~**

* * *

_"I am weeping for my golden ball, which has fallen into the well." The princess cried.  
"Be quiet, and do not weep," answered the frog,  
"I can help you, but what will you give me if I bring your play thing up again?"  
"**Whatever you will have, dear frog**," said she._

_- The Frog Prince_

* * *

"_OH NO! OH NO NO NO NO!"_

That day I dropped the ring into the pond was the day everything changed for good. If I hadn't have been playing with it, it wouldn't have fallen in I'm sure. Why my cousin trusted me with his pending-engagement ring I'll never understand, but even the ridiculousness of that didn't stop it from falling into the murky water, sinking to what I was sure to the bottom and out of reach forever. I should have just left and apologized, but instead I was frozen on the bank watching with huge eyes as it drifted down before clambering into the water after it, clothes and all, to retrieve it. Soaking wet and upset beyond belief I collapsed on the sandy shoreline and put my head on my knees, trying really hard not to cry. All I could think about was how Neji was going to eat me for dinner once he found out…I was probably as good as dead.

_"HEY! Hey you! You want your ring back?"_

I've never asked for too much in my life. Just for a shred of normalcy… and well, maybe just somebody to spend life with, but no matter what I do, I've never really had any real luck with guys. I stutter a lot and blush really easily and have a tendency to just clam up whenever someone cute or likeable is in the room, not that anybody at my school, Academy of Business for the Nationally Upstanding, aka ANBU, really has anybody worthwhile.

_"W-who said that?"_

Sakura says its because I'm too shy, and Tenten says its only because I lack the self confidence. Personally, I think its because I faint whenever someone even breathes on me and my hair is so black its blue. Whatever the case may be, _Ino_ said that 'you have to kiss a lot of frogs before you find your prince', and I've always really just believed that meant I had to work pretty hard to find the right guy…do things that was drastic or crazy……

_"Me! Here, in the water!"  
_  
...but in my case, that wasn't entirely true.

"_Y-you…wait…n-no…that's impossible! I'm dreaming because you're…you're a …"_

No, for me it only took one little thing.

"_A frog?"_

Literally.


	2. Act One

**Once Upon A Maybe  
**…A Very Fractured Fairytale…

~ Act One ~

* * *

But the frog when he had received this promise, put his head into the water and sank down; and in a short while came swimming up again with the ball in his mouth, and threw it on the grass. The king's daughter was delighted to see her pretty play thing once more, and picked it up, and ran away with it. "Wait, wait," said the frog. "Take me with you. I can't run as you can." But what did it avail him to scream his croak, croak, after her, as loudly as he could. **She did not listen to it**.

- The Frog Prince

* * *

I tapped my pencil rhythmically on my desktop, trying my very hardest to pay attention. Beside me, Sakura was dozing off. A student who had gotten in through testing alone, Sakura had to work hard outside of school to maintain her dreams of becoming a premed student before turning 18, and though ANBU issued standard university level courses, not many people knew that Sakura was also studying privately as an intern for one of the best surgeon's in the area, a woman by the name of Tsunade. Giving up the good fight to stay tuned in, I fiddled with the ring in my hand. It was a simple gold band with three sparkling diamonds fixed to the top in a typical setting. Kakashi-sensei, my physics teacher, said something in his usual droning voice and I ignored it. I'd already read the last chapter of our textbook three nights ago.

I don't really have much to do besides read my physics book, and I don't get out very often, so I've been at least a chapter ahead for almost the whole year now, and with summer holiday looming on the horizon, it was easy for me to get carried away by the last bits of information before finals. I don't think this kind of personality is really my fault. I'd like to do more normal things, in fact I dream of it often. If I could have any wish in the world it would be to have a typical high school life – visit the shopping district or get pizza and of course, the one thing every 17-year-old girl like me wants: a boyfriend. I've never really felt like a high schooler. My school is called a University, but really it's only a prep school, so not quite on par, and I am only 17 as I already said. However, being rich and more than just a little socially inept doesn't help my cause much at all, and if it wasn't that, then I know I'd be like my sister or my cousin, who are both very serious and strange by heredity alone.

My Father, head of the Byakugan Corporate, the leader in eye-transplant research and optometry technology, puts a lot of stress on study and not very much on social interaction. Maybe that's why Tenten had gotten cold feet when it came to Neji's. If I were her, I'd be hesitant to join our rather detached family too. Tenten is my cousin's fiancée, and the other day, Neji caught her sneaking out of our guest bedroom window. Her hair is very, _very_ long, and it was trailing out of the window sill, and Neji was thoroughly confused (though his face really didn't betray this at the time). He's only spoken to her once all month, which is very troublesome because _apparently _he was supposed to be proposing to her soon.

Which is why I now had the ring, for 'safe keeping' or whatever he had said at the time. Honestly, I think it was just Neji's way of making me feel unnecessarily responsible for Tenten's disappearance so I would go and convince her to talk to him again. I guess the ring was supposed to act as some kind of last-minute leverage.

Neji was always one for planning ahead – practical like my Father and my uncle, who just happened to be my Father's deceased twin – and never left room for foul play. That's why Tenten's disappearance shook him up so much. She was such a capable girl, so perfectly matched against him in wit and intelligence and she had always been beautiful, for as long as either of us had ever known her. It had seemed like destiny I guess, that they should simply be together. But then she'd suddenly up and left in the middle of the night, her long chestnut hair the only thing that gave her away, else Neji probably would never have realized it was her on the security tapes (reviewed extensively the morning after her departure).

"Puff"  
"KIBA, CUT IT OUT!" Jerking back to the classroom, the ring now palmed tightly in my hand. The reason I had been pulled so swiftly out of my reverie of daydreams had been my friend Ino, who sits exactly diagonal from Sakura, who sits to my left, was trying to restrain herself from strangling the boy who sits behind her. Kiba Inuzuka is one of the strangest people I've ever known, but we've known each other since kindergarten, and he's always been good to me and never caused me any personal trouble, but he's always bugging Ino. At the moment I had woken up slightly, he had been leaned over his desk, and was blowing on Ino's ear. Ino, whose face was flushed pink had hissed out her exclamation, but was now stone still and staring at Kakashi-sensei who seemed to have noticed.

"Would you like to share something with the class miss Yamanaka?" he inquired, his silver hair standing up in a combination of gravity-defying contradiction and what always seemed like static electricity. Tall and slightly lanky, Kakashi-sensei (or Hatake-san as we were _supposed_ to refer to him as), was our drawling, rather sarcastic teacher who suffered from a severe case of hypochondria and constantly wore a stiff, starched surgical mask across his otherwise perfectly handsome face. Though this fact was much to the chagrin of some of the more outgoing girls in our classroom (Sakura and Ino included), many of us were satisfied by the dashing scar strung across his lazy right left eye, the product of a fight back when he was young and what we suspected to be a delinquent genius whose Father had committed suicide and Mother who had abandoned him.

All in all, Kakashi-sensei was a very colorful person despite his rather deadpan nature and careless attitude, and it was probably for that reason that he came across as rather mysterious and extremely irresistible to most of the females (both young and old) that he encountered.

"Oh, not at all Kakashi-sensei, except that this _wolf_ behind me can't keep himself contained!" Ino said, defensively folding her arms across her chest. Sakura mumbled something in her sleep that sounded suspiciously like _Sasuke-kun_ and pressed her cheek into her arms. The class washed over with muffled giggles as Kiba grinned, sharp incisors only adding to his already shaggy, wolfy appearance. Kakashi-sensei sighed and I caught him rolling his eyes to the ceiling as he returned to his loose notes and projector.

"Inuzuka, please keep your hormones at bay." He said tiredly as Ino's jaw ticked. Kiba only laughed, earning a slap of approval from one of the other boy's in our class.

"Sorry sensei…just thought Big Bad Wolves were supposed to blow down piggy's doors!" He howled, before dissolving into laughter. Ino fumed, and I could see her hands clenching into fists. For as long as anyone could remember Sakura had been calling Ino 'Pig' and she in turn reffered to her as 'Forehead', childish nick names used often enough, but always in private. The fact that Kiba even knew about it and then used it out loud was awfully surprising for us both.

"Shut up will you. Some people are trying to sleep." Directly behind him, Shikamaru, the resident shogi-club president and self-proclaimed intellectual of our class slapped Kiba in the back of the head and then promptly dropped his own face back upon his desk.

The class once again dissolved into giggles and I felt my shoulders rise and fall as I took in a deep breath, eyes straying to the wall clock that was only seconds away from sounding the bell for our afternoon break.

"You just wait dog! When I get my hands on you - !" The shrill, but gentle bell cut her off before she could say anything and the whole classroom rumbled with the sliding out of chairs and rummaging of bags. Even Ino, who was midsentence, stopped to dig through her purse for cash and stand up to wake Sakura. She lifted her head groggily and the two of them conversed briefly over what was going on before turning to me.

"Brought your lunch again Hinata?" Ino said, pointing her long pretty bedazzled fingernail at my bento. It was a plain box – there wasn't even a fun character on it. I smiled shyly.

"Yeah." I replied quietly and Sakura just shook her head.

"We go to the school with the best food and you insist on packing your own…you're so strange Hinata!" She chastised, poking me in the stomach playfully, receiving a small strangled eep from my lips. Ino only shrugged and tossed her pretty head.

"Alright then, Sakura and I have to go to the dining hall…(that's another thing about ANBU. It doesn't even name things properly. Classrooms are called 'learning fields' and the cafeteria is called the 'dining hall'.)…so we'll just meet up at the end of break, yeah?" I nod and the two saunter out of the class, hips swishing their skirts cutely, and boys watching them as they leave. I'll never understand my two dearest friends. For as much as they give each other trouble and act the way they do, they truly could have just about any boy in the class – well, save for the one they both like.

Sasuke Uchiha is strange to me. He's very quiet and serious and stoic, but at the same time there's something about him that's a little bit more less than sinister but definitely mysterious, like he's involved in one of the secret organizations I always read about in my mangas. He never smiles and he absorbs himself in his studies and doesn't talk to anyone except Kakashi-sensei, but even then his voice is always soft spoken and cold. If I wanted anyone, I always expect I'd want someone the opposite of Sasuke-kun.

I have always dreamt of Prince Charming with sunny blonde hair and blue eyes, the kind you always see in story books or movies – but Ino says that's wishful thinking. Not many foreigners get into ANBU unless they're wealthy. Ino has blonde hair and eyes the color of teal, so she's not really one to talk, but her Father was a German diplomat when he met her mother, and she was born in Japan. Sakura is just strange. Her hair is the truest shade of natural pink, a fluke that is questioned often but completely actual. I am dark haired and fair skinned and light eyed, and I have really horrible vision. I've had to wear particularly strong contact lenses my whole life, just like everyone else in my family.

I wonder often if this is the result of inbreeding…

I wander out of the room myself, past Kakashi-sensei in the adjoining hall. He's flirting _mercilessly_ to my favorite teacher, Kurenai-sensei, even though he knows she's engaged just like everyone else. I smile slightly as I go by them and out the heavy glass doors to the front of the school.

* * *

ANBU is situated on a rolling hill-like incline with steps leading up, and a sloped green lawn littered with trees and a small, pretty pond that serves as drainage and aesthetics. It's here that I've been eating lunch for the past three weeks, ever since I started packing it…and the only reason I started packing it is because of _him_.

He _is_ my Prince Charming. I've only been seeing him on Wednesdays because that's when he walks passed, his hand shoved in his pockets, and his eyes to the sky as he strolls along, as if he knows exactly where to go and doesn't have to look to get there.

He walks like he owns the sidewalk, and when he goes by the air smells sweet and gets warm and buzzes, but that may just be because I'm blushing horribly and trying not to be conspicuous as he goes. He's lovely to look at…but we've never spoken. I don't even know his name, but I could swear the whole city reacts when he's around, like it knows him and loves him and he loves it too. His eyes are endless blue and his hair is flaxen yellow, but like I said, I only see him on Wednesday's, but I wait everyday despite this, and I always pack enough for two…just in case I have a drastic change in personality and work up the courage to actually talk to him.

He's just so lovely to look at though…and I'm sure he wouldn't like me. Someone like him would never like someone like me.

Today though, I was a little more distracted than usual.

I wasn't exactly hungry, so I stood on the bank, twisting the ring back and forth between my fingers.

The boy's playing soccer hadn't meant to do it, but the ball had gone careening off the field and into my back and as I pitched forward, the ball ricocheting off my sweater and bouncing back towards them. The ring went flying out of my fingertips and into the pond with a bubbly 'plop'. At first, it didn't register with me. Tears sprung in my eyes as I ran my fingers over the stinging tingle all over my shoulders, counting myself lucky I didn't fall in myself.

"OH NO! OH NO NO NO NO NO!" I screamed suddenly, looking at my empty palm and the ripples still forming in the pond. I could barely see the sunlit glimmer of the gold band as it sunk to the bottom. Lunch forgotten, I immediately ignored the shouted apologies behind me and dashed after it, tripping over a tree root and splashing into the water with little grace. My shoes discarded as I'd run, my socks sank into the muddy bottom and pond water seeped between my toes, and by the time I'd gotten to where the ring had originally fallen in I was already wetting the hem of my skirt, not to mention the rest of me that had been flecked with water from my messy tumble into the small pool.

At that point I realized that there was no possible way I'd ever get it back and defeated, and wet and _horribly_ embarrassed, I waded back to the bank, and stepped up onto the sandy threshold to the lawn. Picking up my shoes, my feet squelched and my legs were caked with mud and the breeze shifting through the air made goose bumps rise up on my skin.

I collapsed down on the bank, rubbing the spot that was about to form into a nasty bruise on my back and held back the hot, sticky tears on the edges of my eyes. Sniffing heavily I blinked in the hot sun and attempted not to cry.

I can't really do anything right, and Neji was going to _kill_ me when he found out – which he would because I was a terrible liar.

"_This is just my luck. Nothing ever goes right for me…my dad thinks I'm a failure, my cousin is going to eat me for dinner, and I will never, ever have a boyfriend. I'll probably be alone my whole life…who could ever love me? I'm a tragedy in the making!"_

I was so consumed with exaggerating my awfully blessed life that I didn't notice the little voice at first. All I could hear was my own self-pity, and as most girls will probably tell you, that can be pretty loud.

I was sopping wet and crying, what else was I supposed to do? Smile like everything was great?

"_I just wish…I just wish for once, something would happen. I wish I could get that ring, no matter what I have to do…"_

"I will do anything, just let me get that ring back, please!" I whimpered to my sticky legs.

No one ever told me 'be careful what you wish for'.

It wasn't till then that I heard the tiny voice that grew louder and quieter at odd intervals, like someone was bobbing in the water and it was covering their mouth as they spoke.

"HEY! Hey you! You want your ring back?!" Startled, I raised my head and looked frantically around, scanning the perimeter for someone, the blush skidding across my cheeks and my mouth already starting to malfunction.

"W-who s-said that?" I muttered, brow now furrowed with the absence of any human being except for the soccer players who didn't pay any attention to me and were far enough away I couldn't have heard that clearly even if they were.

"Me! Here, in the water!" My eyes instantly diverted to the pond, squinting against the bright sunlight that was playing on its static surface. That was funny, because all I could see was a little frog. It was about five inches long and staring at me with intensely blue eyes that shone and gleamed mischievously. I let my gaze settle on it, contemplating, when all of a sudden it winked. My back pressed against the tree, my own eyes widening.

"Y-you…wait…n-no…that's impossible! I'm dreaming because you're…you're a …" I whispered, staring at the little creature that only smiled. Wait…smiled - ?

"A frog?" it answered promptly, diving under and then appearing a large amount closer. Amazed, my head craned forward and I rocked onto all fours, edging down the embankment to where it hovered in the water only a few inches deep. It blinked at me and continued its froggish little grin. I'd never seen a frog smile before, but this one was _definitely_ happy about something –

Suddenly, I reached out a hesitant finger and poked its slimy head. Its eye shrunk back down and it sloshed a little in the water. Somehow awed, I picked it up, urging out of it a series of shrieks and little shouts as it squirmed about in my palms.

"HEY! H-HEY! Just what do you think you're doing here? Wait…put me down! PUT ME DOWN! Do you _know_ who I am?! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" It protested as I quickly turned it over onto its back in my palm.

"T-t-that's impossible!" I exclaimed again, one hand coming up to push back my bangs in disbelief.

"SO YOU'VE SAID!" It croaked, and I could have sworn it was blushing as it scrambled back onto it's legs, practically shaking with anger. "Why, if I wasn't under this dumb enchantment what I would do!" It continued, jumping a little for dramatic effect. I couldn't say I was really paying much attention though, too stunned to hear much of what he said. "Hey, are you even listening?" He questioned after a moment, big blue eyes continuing to stare up at me. I noticed on his back there were a series of shimmering gold and orange stripes that began at one end and traveled all the way to the sides of his little face, looking almost like whiskers as they shined and caught the light.

"T-there aren't any b-batteries." I deadpanned, somehow surprised that this was true and shocked into my unending stare. The little frog only straightened up a bit.

"Of course there aren't any batteries!" It scoffed, folding its arms at me. My eyes widened at the little action that was so human - and if it had eyebrows, I was sure they would be raised, "I'm the real deal here! Naruto Uzumaki! I'm the _- _!" All at once his little mouth closed instantly and he beat his webbed foot and tried to pry it open, his eyes going crossed in distress. After a few seconds it came flying open and he was panting up a storm, seemingly exhausted.

"Well, damnit." He exclaimed with a huff, "I guess I can't tell you…oh well, guess we'll just have to settle this the old fashioned way!"

"O-old fashioned w-w-ay?" I asked hesitantly, bringing him just a little closer to my face, still startled and convinced that I was going to wake up any second. Maybe that's why I was so inclined to talk to him…I figured I was knocked out by that soccer ball and would wake up in the infirmary any minute with a band aid on my forehead and Ino and Sakura looming above me. The frog only nodded his head in affirmation.

"You're the first person to hear me talking, which means you've _got_ to be the one to break this _thing_ I'm under…course, it's pretty easy on your end." He stared up at me and I blinked back at him.

"W-will you get my r-ring if I do…help you?" I asked, weighing my word's cautiously. He nodded brightly.

"Sure…but you promise to help me, don't you?" I bit my lip and looked at him and then looked around.

"O-ok. I'll help you break this…er…spell?" I couldn't even believe I was saying it. I've always been a practical girl who never let fantasy really get a hold of her, but now…well now I didn't even know. He grinned again and leapt off my hand. With two great bounds he had disappeared with a splash into the pond and only moments later he resurfaced, the ring balanced on top of his head, completely dry and untouched by mud or anything, as magical as it sounded. He laid it at my feet and I picked it up, the light filtering through the trees playing off of its metallic surface.

"Now – you've promised to help me, and I did what you asked, so now you have to keep that promise." I nodded skeptically, not completely understanding what that all entailed.

"What exactly do I have to do?" I mumbled, stooping down onto the ground below me to be eye level with him he smirked (if frog's could ever do that). He hopped right up to my ear though and ruffled my hair.

"You only have to kiss me."

"WHAT?!" I cried, stumbling back. The little frog, or Naruto as I should have been calling him after his rather dynamic introduction looked a little shaken as he fell from my shoulder where'd he'd perched to whisper into my ear and blinked hazily up at me.

"Of course! Just one kiss, nothing special!"

"N-No!" I cried, holding out my hands, "I'm so terribly sorry, but t-that…I…I j-just can't do that! Y-you will not steal my first k-kiss! T-that's for someone else!"

Naruto did not look amused.

"You promised! You said you'd do whatever I asked to help me if I got your precious ring back! I should just take it myself, shouldn't I!"

But he never got the opportunity because I had grabbed my bag and was running for the school.

By the time I reached the air-conditioned haven, I could still feel my legs trembling. Falling into my seat I swallowed stiffly, only barely noticing when Sakura and Ino came giggling in, girlish blushes on their faces and smiles to match.

"HINATA! Hinata guess what happened!" Ino shouted, but I didn't hear her really. I just nodded numbly along. I felt sick to my stomach and the ring felt like lead in the pocket of my sweater.

All I could hear were those horrible words in my mind.

_You only have to kiss me_. How casually he had said that! And even as a frog no less! Who did he think he was, going around and stealing girl's kisses in return for rings! Unbelievable. I bet he didn't even suffer like that…if it was even true! I was sure I had just dreamt the whole thing and that I would go home that evening and forget all about it, but something nagged at the back of the mind and told me that was _far_ from what was going to occur.

"Yes… that's it…j-just a dream…" I panted, touching my arm to pinch myself. I squinted my eyes shut and then opened them.

"What are you doing girl?" Ino said, watching me. I flushed scarlet and the warning bell rang.

"N-nothing!" I replied hotly, sinking further into my seat. Sakura came up and slapped her pale hand to my forehead.

"Hinata, you're burning up are you sure you're all right? What did you have for lunch today?" She inquired, instantly taking up my hand to check my pulse against her watch. Ino teetered on the edge of my desk, watching me with fascination and confusion written all over her face.

"She's so pale, like she's seen a ghost!" She said to Sakura who nodded along.

"L-lunch?" I asked weakly. I hadn't even eaten anything.

"Alright, alright, enough, go take your seats now." Everyone turned around to see Iruka-sensei, our homeroom teacher, rapping his book on the podium to the front of us. Sakura scowled and slid over to her seat and Ino followed suit, Kiba snickering as she shot him a warning glare and took out her textbook. I couldn't concentrate. I fidgeted and tried to get comfortable but the seat was hard and I was starving. My palms were a little sweaty too…I was by far more nervous than I'd ever been in my entire life.

It was about half way through our English review that Ume Fujiwara, another girl in my class, raised her hand for the lavatory and stood up. She had just closed the door behind her when she screamed.

Everyone was out of their seats in an instant, craning their necks to see what had occurred as she came tearing back into the 'learning field', holding her skirts and dancing around like her feet were on fire.

"IN THE HALL! IN THE HALL!" She shrieked, climbing up onto a desk. All at once everyone scrambled to the corridor and the whole room dissolved into chaos.

And as all the people fought to see what was there, I noticed a little green blob slinking along the wall. With a small hiccup of a jump and a loud croak that sounded awfully like "HEY YOU!", I was faced with the small frog of before.

"G-go away!" I groaned, "Leave me a-alone! P-please!"

"You promised!" Naruto defended firmly.

"Hey, did you guys hear something?" Kiba turned around from his place at the door and his eyes locked on me. Feeling a bead of sweat roll down my temple I immediately shoved Naruto into my empty school bag with my foot.

"Uh…m-my stomach!" I said a little too high, and a little too loud. Kiba only smirked.

"Haha…sure…" Smiling awkwardly back I picked up my bag and looked at the little creature situated in side. He was brooding and obviously very peeved.

"L-look, you can't follow me about!" I whispered again. Naruto sulked and turned his back to me. Biting my lip once more I winced and leaned my head down even farther. I was starting to feel a tinge of regret for leading him on and then not accepting his request, and thinking on it, it must have been horribly inconvenient to be a frog. After all, what was a short walk to the school for me had taken him nearly half an hour, and even though he was a sturdy little frog that was a lot to be measured by.

"L-listen, I'm not sure if that's how I can help you…" I started quietly, "…but I did promise that I would help you somehow." His bright eyes looked up at me with suspicion as he turned around.

"Fine." He muttered and I retracted my head to see Iruka-sensei looking at me quizzically.

"Hinata-san, was that you talking just now…?"

I smiled weakly.

"My stomach. I didn't get a chance to eat lunch…I r-ran into someone who needed a favor."

My bag agreed with a low, and thankful, croak.

* * *

**This will be littered with little fragments of fairytales....like Tenten's long hair (and her reverse antics to climb out of her tower herself...), and of course Big Bad Wolf Kiba :'D **

**He's a little bit brasher than normal, but I'm ok with that!**

**xoxo,  
Spoons**


	3. Act Two

**Once Upon A Maybe  
**…A Very Fractured Fairytale…

~ Act Two ~

* * *

"Princess, youngest princess, open the door for me."  
She ran to see who was outside, but when she opened the door, there sat the frog in front of it.  
Then she slammed the door to, in great haste, sat down to dinner again, and was quite frightened.  
The king saw plainly that her heart was beating violently, and said, "My child, what are you so afraid of?  
**Is there perchance a giant outside who wants to carry you away?"**

- The Frog Prince

* * *

"_Once in a while, right in the middle of an ordinary life, love gives us a fairy tale."_

Unknown

I don't even know how I made it through the rest of that afternoon; it went by in a rushing, blurred, conglomerate of my own defensiveness and Ino and Sakura's pestering stares until the final liberating bell sounded and I rocketed out of class.

I only stopped briefly to replace my shoes in the locker room, switching them at record speeds and then tumbling out onto the bustling street, where I had insisted that I be allowed to walk home. My Father, who was doting, but stern, had given me permission under the condition that I never stop anywhere and that Ino and Sakura always walk with me, but today I couldn't let that happen. Surrounded by the bright, blinding sunlight, I scooted out of the school grounds and into the city, my feet almost tripping over the cracks in the pavement several times.

"Hey!" The muffled cry came from inside my bag as I was jostled by several men on their way to the subway system and I ignored it, just as I ignored the patronizing stares of people as my bag continued to ribbit in its distress. The cries only got louder and more frantic as I went faster and faster, and all at once it grew so loud I forced myself to scuttle into a small gap between buildings so that I could shove my shaking fingers down into the bag and draw out the very dizzy-looking Naruto.

"Where's the fire?!" He promptly shouted, glaring at me with his blue eyes penetrating and irritated.

"I-I'm sorry! I need to get home now!" I hissed, trying to be inconspicuous about talking to a frog in the busiest city in the country. Naruto huffed and scrambled in my hold.

"Well, could you at least be a little gentler? Or do you want me to lose my lunch all over that cell phone thing you have down there?" He grumbled, wiggling free from my fingers and plopping back down into my bag.

With a heavy blush, I reached down and collected the phone for myself and moved my homework aside as well, so there was a comfortable little space on top of my package of tissues for the creature to assemble himself. Cautiously, I took a step back into the sunlight, walking carefully at first until I picked up to a slightly faster pace, glad and relieved that the frog was no longer badgering me with his loud croaks. I didn't know that two pairs of eyes watched me carefully as I left.

The first was the boy leaning against the building to my right, who I slightly bumped and apologized gruffly too as I passed. From the fleeting glance I gave him I could only make out the strange red hair that poked out from under his panda-shaped cap; the deep black of the bear's face mirroring the rings of black that stood out on his own pale skin. His hands shoved deeper into his pockets and he only nodded, face tilted down so I couldn't really identify him.

The second never made himself noticed. His red eyes focused on me, and he sunk back into the shadows, disappearing into the side of the building and nothing more.

I only hurried on, not slowing down until I came to our slice of traditional glory, smack dab in the middle of the never-resting city. The estate we called home was once the family shrine, but since business had expanded we abandoned the shrine business and went into eye care, but when my Mother was still alive she'd insisted that my Father keep up with it instead of tearin git down, and we've lived with it ever since. By 'we' I mean my Father, my younger Sister Hanabi, and of course myself. Then there's my cousin Neji. He's attending University. He wants to become a doctor and study the nervous system, something his own father, always encouraged.

My Father has always pushed Neji in the opposite direction, and for a long time Neji let him, but after he met Tenten and his rather eccentric friend Lee in high school, that all seemed to change. He began pursuing his own goals, seeing as he probably wasn't going to be gaining any succession of the company anyway with his dad murdered and my own father heading the corporatation.

Anyway, the house is very large: like a little world trapped in time. It stays green for most of the year and it's always buzzing with flowers and birds and trees. It's easy to get lost in there, especially at the older end of the estate, where the shrines still stand. I like to sit out there when I'm doing homework. Not a lot of people go near, especially now because the servants all _insist_ it's haunted, but I don't really think so. Even if it was, it couldn't be mean spirits, because I've never had any trouble.

I'd come bursting through the door, right as my Father had left his study, long hands folded into his yukata, brow stern and determined to remind me again about his upcoming business gala where we both knew I'd be making my first appearance as not just Hinata seventeen, but Hinata seventeen-and-single.

"Hinata, I'd like to talk to you about the up and coming dinner. Now I know it's still a month away, but it's important we get these little issues settled. With that being said, since we both know you won't be accompanied, I'd like to ask if you have any preference to who you are seated next to…Hinata are you listening?" He said sharply as I flew right past him.

"Hinata!"

"Huh?" I asked, screeching to a halt in the huge hallway where my Father had just caught me right as I'd made a beeline for my bedroom. For a moment he paused as I whipped around to give him a wide-eyed stare, as though he had been rudely cut off, and his eyes made the slightest movement as he took in my appearance. My hand instantly flew to my bangs, where I pat down the fly-aways. My Father sighed.

"Why do you appear so disheveled?" He questioned, getting straight to the point. Swallowing stiffly I tried to hide my dirty skirt with my school bag. To be honest I'd forgotten all about how I looked; no one at school had even bothered to ask. Just goes to show how invisible I can be when I want to.

"Uhm…I f-fell." I replied weakly, staring at the space right beside my Father's left foot. He sighed again.

"Hyuuga's don't fall. We lay down to reduce impact. Anyway, I've been meaning to speak with you about this gala Hinata. It's extremely important that you not waste any details – ." We both looked at my bag, my father slowly blinking as Naruto laughed.

Only I was the only one who knew that.

"This guy is your _Dad_? Oh man! What a stick in the mud Hinata!" I went pale.

"What…is that noise?" My Father steeled his gaze and zeroed in on my bag. Instantly, I pulled it to my chest and silently prayed that I was suffocating the creature inside of it.

"M-my cell!" I choked, shaking the bag for effect. My Father blinked. I could clearly see what he was thinking, and it wasn't good. You see, my Father must love me, somewhere, but a grande majority of the time he believes that am I not only the most useless being on the planet, but that I'm also the strangest. My artistic streak and compassion seems to baffle him more often than not, and I also seem to lack the insane and rather unnecessary pride for our family as he and the rest of them do. I don't mean to say that I'm not _happy_ to be part of our family – they are my family, no matter what – but it seems that I could do without the extreme ideas that we have invented living and the way to do it and that Hyuuga blood is the ultimate trump card in just about any situation.

The small, probably very angry, frog in my bag was a perfect example of how fate really is blind, no matter what my Father will ever try to say.

He nodded slowly, as though that seemed the most reasonable explanation. My Father doesn't like the strange and system-breaking, so it was almost too easy to convince him to convince himself that my cell phone was exactly what he wanted to see as the answer.

"You should take care of that call. It's impolite to leave someone waiting…we'll resume this conversation at another time." He finished finally and I bobbed my head frantically.

"Y-yes! O-of course!" I half shouted, half squeaked. I waited patiently for him to exit, as is polite, and he shut the door to his study with a gentle snap. As soon as I heard it I had begun turning on my heel and darting the rest of the way to my bedroom, ignoring Hanabi's homework question and a servant's questioning stare.

For the first time it seemed all afternoon, I collapsed into a heap, right on the other side of my bedroom door. I was emotionally exhausted – completely spent – and in no mood to be interrupted. Standing up slowly I walked to my bed and sank down onto it, placing my bag gently beside me.

"You can c-come out now." I whispered, watching the bag. No movement. Carefully I lifted the edge of the heavy canvas fabric and peered inside. "N-Naruto?"

"AHHH!" My hands scrabbled against my face as Naruto attempted, vainly, to land his lips on mine, having erupted from my bag as soon as my face had been seen.

"W-what are you t-thinking!" I cried, holding him away at arm's length. He grinned cheekily.

"Well, I had to do _something_! We really should just speed up this process you know – before something bad happens!" He chirped as I blushed and set him a good distance away from my body among the throng of pillows that stood like sentinels over my sheets. He tumbled backwards and I cringed, not knowing what kind of things frogs left behind when they touched fabric, despite my hands being slime free from all the times I'd handled him so far.

"B-bad things?" I questioned hesitantly poking my fingers together in nervous habit. Naruto scrambled upright and stared at me from the top of a long bolster pillow.

"Well who knows what's following me! I'm a pretty important guy where I come from. That's why you should probably take me everywhere, you know, for protection." He winked at me at the last bit, but my face must have been exceptionally grave because he let his own expression falter.

"What's with that look? Don't believe me?" I ran a hand over my forehead.

"I-I don't even k-know anymore…" I stopped, "…d-do you r-really think something b-bad is following you?" I whispered. Naruto, in a moment of seriousness only shrugged.

"Like I said, I'm kind of an important guy…you could say the most important around. A lot of people are already out to get me on a normal day, and now that I've been reduced to this…" He gestured to his froggy appearance, "Well, you might as well bury me! I've only got half the power I usually have, thanks to that no good, rotten, pervy sage! But, I can't really give you any more details. This 'spell' thing doesn't really allow for it." He rested his chin in his webbed palm and blinked at me.

"Sooooo…" He began again, smiling suggestively, "That's where _you_ come in."

"See you are the girl apparently, there's gotta be no other explanation! I mean, really you can understand me!" He said eagerly, propping himself up on both legs and leaping down to get closer. "That's no small accomplishment either, because I was there for over a week waiting…but maybe, it could be that ring too." He said, staring at the trinket that I'd stowed on my own hand for safekeeping. He nodded.

"Yeah, it's got something alright, kind of like magic, but not really. That's it, a bunch of true love all over it…" He shook his head and his little nose wrinkled, "Gosh, its gross how much love there is! Someone must really be serious to hand you that…who gave it to you?" I blinked and stared at the ring. It looked completely normal, not traces of whatever it was he was talking about.

"I-it's not mine." I said softly, "M-my cousin gave it to me for his fiancé. She left a while ago." Naruto tapped his chin thoughtfully.

"That would explain all the melancholy too…man. He must _really_ like this chick…anyways, when it fell in it was like I suddenly knew you were the one! Probably because all that love, but still!" He exclaimed finally, pointing at my face.

"Not just anyone could hear me or understand me, although I was a little surprised it was _you_ of all people." He suddenly looked a little less disappointed than I would have expected upon saying that, as if instead of being discontented with it being me he was actually…rather happy.

"I've watched you for a while now." He continued on, his grin only growing as my own face went pale.

"M-me?" I said, pointing to my own chest. He only tilted his head to one side.

"Well, in all honesty, you're a _very_ pretty lady, and I'm rather lucky I landed such a sweetie too…but it doesn't matter if you still refuse to kiss me. Do you?" He asked hesitantly, putting his cold, webbed feet on my exposed leg. I winced.

"S-sorry." I said apologetically. He deflated.

"Oh come _ON_! I give you all this spiel on how great you are and you still won't kiss me? Am I really that ugly, because I thought I was pretty darn good looking for a frog! Didn't I say I'd been watching you for a while? Can't you trust me on this? Really?"

"I-it's not that!" I cried, scooping him up suddenly, "A-and I am flattered you t-think that way, but…I…I-I'm saving my first k-kiss for someone v-very special. S-so r-really, although I w-wouldn't typically kiss frogs, i-if that weren't t-the truth I'd probably be glad to help you!" Naruto did something very strange then. Our eyes, which had been meeting more often now that I was coming to terms that this was not in fact a dream I would ever wake up from, narrowed severely.

He pouted.

"W-what?" I said, setting him back on the bed and folding my hands back on my lap.

"Who is it then? Who's so important that you can't help me? Who's so special that you can't spare one measly kiss?" He demanded, crossing his arms, "I mean really, I hate to break it to you but you _do_ spend your lunches alone, don't you?" I went pink.

"W-well…h-he's…w-well…" Suddenly, I felt shame come over me as I stared at my duvet and fingered a section of it, worrying at it with my hands. "I…I don't know who he is." I whispered, refusing to look back at Naruto who's silence unnerved me.

"You don't even know his _name_?" He stressed, after a long and ominous pause. I nodded feebly.

"I...I couldn't talk to him anyway. He…he wouldn't like someone like me." I murmured, thinking about the boy who walked with the sun on his back and a smile on his face.

"Well that's ridiculous! A girl like you? You're great! I bet, all you'd have to do is talk to him and he'd fall head over heels!" The smile couldn't help itself as I turned to Naruto who was still staring up at me with hope written all over his face. I tapped him gently on the head with my index finger, watching as he shuffled a little to accommodate the pressure and stuck out his tongue like a child.

"S-still not going to work Naruto-san!" I chided gently, though somehow, my insides bubbled with the compliments. Naruto batted my finger away and I giggled, hands coming up instinctively to cover my mouth.

"Really though…" Naruto said quietly, and I stopped, "...who is it?" He wasn't looking at me this time. He was staring at the blanket and his eyes were unreadable.

"Ah." I breathed, hands clasping themselves on my still dirty skirt.

"He has blonde hair…" His head lifted instantly and I tilted my head slightly, my eyes pulling into his, as though I recognized them, but that couldn't be possible, "…and eyes like the sk - !"

"HINATA! HINA-CHANNNN~~~~!" The thump that accompanied my body hitting my carpet luckily muffled the shriek I emitted, but it didn't matter because as soon as I slid into my dresser, knocking off a pile of books, Ino and Sakura had already busted through the door.

"What are you doing on the floor?!" Ino stated without hesitating, her eyes questioning as she grabbed my hand and lifted my shaky form off the ground.

"Hina, did you forget about karaoke tonight?" Sakura continued, picking up the books and replacing them on the dresser top. Dizzy, and rubbing my head I tried to catch up, letting out a long sigh.

"N-no, I didn't forget." I answered to the best of my abilities, "I g-got distracted that's all." Ino shrugged and Sakura just rolled her eyes and shook her head before grabbing my face and pulling me so that our foreheads bumped each other's.

"You look like you've been blushing, what have you been up to?" Her accusation hit me a bit below the belt and I was only dully aware of Naruto shuffling back into the bag still on my bed, his rustles audible only if you were listening for it. Ino swung over from my left, inspecting me as well, er…more like circling me in a very vulture-like fashion.

"Yeah, first you get all jumpy today and you speed off without telling us where you're going and then you forget about tonight…what's with the clothes too? Have they been _that_ dirty all day?"

"Yeah, it's like she's been rolling around on the ground or something!"

"W-well, I…" The words fumbled on my tongue as I tried to gain some point of reason. Their faces grew closer together, surveying me.

"Do you have a boyfriend Hina-chan?" They said at the very same time. My eyes widened in embarrassment and my voice erupted out of my throat.

"OUT! O-OUT! I-I'M GOING TO CHANGE! OUT!" I cried, shoving them around and pushing them towards the door, my face on fire. Thinking a little more clearly I placed my bag in Ino's arms. "HOLD THIS!" I shouted, before letting the door slam behind me. Turning on my heel I went directly to my closet, yanking out the first suitable clothes I could find, and also the most modest. By the time I'd put them on I was pacing around like a caged tiger, rubbing my head and biting my lip.

"What have I done? What am I _doing_! What – Bad things? This is the _worst_! Nothing could possibly be worse than this!" I hissed as I adjusted the turtleneck and knee-length skirt in hopes it would answer once and for all that I would probably never have a boyfriend. I slapped my cheeks in Ernest and turned to the curved form of my vanity.

"This is absolutely insane. You've gone completely mad…"I shook my head and deftly plaited my hair over one shoulder with skilled fingers so only the shorter bits of my hair and my bangs escaped the elastic. I paused, stopping to look at my reflection.

_A girl like you? You're great…_

"Oooohhhh…" I groaned, collapsing onto the smooth wooden countertop. "A frog, of all people, thinks I'm great." I muttered to a bottle of perfume, unconvinced the day would ever end.

"Hina! Let's go, or we'll be late!" I could hear Ino's muffled shout and I could almost see her pressed against the door, trying to figure out what I was doing. Grabbing my cell phone, I opened the door just as Sakura began to blush, tugging on her skirt nervously. Ino took in my outfit with a look of surprise but Sakura just stared dreamily ahead.

"Yeah," She said girlishly, "Sasuke-kun is waiting."

Ok. So maybe it could get worse.

* * *

Sasuke-kun is a very stoic person, as I've already said, and I have trouble trusting him, and with good reason. He just seems to be off to me. To be quite honest, he makes Neji look like he never shuts up. When we arrived he simply nodded at Sakura who situated herself right beside him, trying to keep herself at some kind of ease. Ino only scoffed and reluctantly placed herself next to Kiba who was grinning like he was about to eat her. She tossed her hair over her shoulder and straightened her red jacket around her shoulders before pulling the hood up over her face to block out his predatory gaze. I, myself sat stiffly on the edge of one of the long couches as Shikamaru lazily flipped through the catalogue of songs. Self-conscious and a little warmer than usual, I tugged on the neck of my turtleneck and felt my pulse hammering under my fingers, like someone was staring at me. Looking around, I realized that everyone else was quite absorbed with either each other or the wall in Sasuke's case. Confused I shifted, crossing my legs and trying to stare at my sandals, but a sudden sound caused me to look down.

Peeking into my bag I saw Naruto was clambering around in a mad frenzy, his eyes wide and little beads of something rolling down his back. When he caught my gaze he began waving his arms and pointing in the general direction of the others. I had no clue what he was talking about. I looked to them and they were just as absorbed as before, completely unawares. Sakura was trying to engage Sasuke-kun in conversation to no avail and Shikamaru had given up his search, until Ino had gotten up to fend herself off from Kiba who was stuffing his face with the snacks that had been brought to the door.

"Hinata!" I jumped as Naruto ribbeted and looked down at the bag again, and my eyes instantly must have shown my shock because I found myself staring at a small sign made of my best stationary and a broken pencil lead.

_WE NEED TO LEAVE!!_

The rest was rather garbled and hard to read so I squinted my eyes and repeated what all I could discern.

"We need to…leave?" I said softly.

"Huh?" I looked up and snapped my neck towards Ino whose hand was on her hip, eyes digging clear into my soul. The microphone in her hand twisted as she rotated her fingers around it as she stared at me. I thought of the only thing I could.

"Bathroom!" I said swiftly, standing and darting to the door.

* * *

Inside the stall I carefully removed Naruto from my bag and set him on the surface of it, balanced on my knees.

"W-what on Earth is wrong?" I asked quietly, feeling the need to whisper even though we were quite alone. Naruto looked frantically around him.

"It's _Him_. He's _here._ Oh man, on man, why didn't I realize sooner! Of course he'd be here! He was following us when you left that school of yours! WHY IS HE EVEN ATTENDING? Of course – to keep tabs on me…oh man, oh man!" I watched Naruto talk to himself, webbed fingers covering his eyes as she shook his head. Suddenly, he looked at me from between the webbing and his eyes were frightened and intense.

"Do you know now what this means? In this condition…I'm only half as good as I usually am, there's no way I'll be able to fight him off! He'll get me for sure! And that snake will get everything! Oh man, oh man!" I only shook my head in alarm.

"W-who are you talking about? W-what did you m-mean by w-we have to l-leave?" I said, my own voice beginning to get strained with the stress I was feeding off of. Naruto didn't get to answer though because the door to the bathroom swung open and a pair of footsteps entered. Heavier footsteps than any girl I knew. Naruto froze and I hastily put him in my bag, and mustering all my courage, flushed the toilet and began to slowly slide the lock into place. I cleared my throat and the person left, the door closing behind them.

"N-naruto?" I whispered. The frog was silent with fear.

"He's knows I'm here." He muttered again, as though this fact just refused to sink in, "he's really after me…" he stared up at me, "You remember me telling you about bad things? This is bad. This is really bad. If he catches me he'll take me back to that snake…who knows…I don't know…" He buried his head into his hands again.

"N-naruto," I said stiffly, attempting to remain calm, "N-naruto t-tell me what to do, and I'll do it." He peeked up at my face.

"Leave. We gotta leave. I can't protect you until we get out of this place, and even then, it's a stretch. You still wearing that ring?" I looked at my finger and the glimmering band.

"Yes." He nodded and sat up a little, thinking hard about something.

"Hinata, that guy, the one you really like, did you only see him on Wednesday's?" I blinked in alarm.

"Y-yeah, b-but what d-does that have to do…" He cut me off by looking towards the door.

"I can't tell you right now…but…I'm really sorry I dragged you into all of this, because things are about to get a little harrier than I thought they would."

"N-naruto, I d-don't know what's going on…" Naruto returned his blue eyes to me.

"As long as you wear that ring, you'll be ok. My promise to help you and protect it is stuck on their like super glue. Whatever happens, don't let anyone get it off your finger, you hear me?" He said firmly. I nodded and stood shakily.

"W-where s-should I go? I p-promised to help you…" He looked up at me and smiled.

"Don't worry Hinata, just be you. You're perfect just the way you are, don't force it!"

With that he went silent and I opened the door to the stall and stepped out onto the tile. I shuffled nervously across the bathroom until I reached the door, and when I opened it, I found Sakura standing outside it looking a bit disappointed.

"You seen Sasuke-kun? He said he needed some fresh air…" I shook my head quickly.

"N-no…listen, Sakura, m-my dad says I need to go now…" I tightened my hold on my bag and Sakura just shrugged.

"Sure, sure, no use arguing with that old man, now is there? Try to get home before dark though; a lot of weirdoes like to wander around at dusk!" She said as she turned on her heel, pausing at the door, "Oh, and Hinata?" I turned myself to stare into her green eyes, "Tell Sasuke-kun that I'll wait for him when he's ready to come back in, ok?" I smiled softly.

"S-sure Sakura-chan."

* * *

The warm air hit me with a jolt as I left the chilly karaoke place, my feet hitting the pavement with dull thumps. It wasn't until about halfway home that I realized that I should have taken the bus. It was right then that I realized I was being followed. My heart just about broke through my ribcage as the sun began to slowly near the horizon, painting the city orange and gold and pink.

Trying to be inconspicuous I refused to turn around and instead decided to turn into a small passage, thinking that it would empty me out onto the street parallel to the one I was on and closer to home as opposed to walking around the block, but I would never figure out.

"Oi." The voice stung like cold water as I stopped walking for only a moment, a stray cat darting out of my way. I kept walking.

"OI!" the voice said, louder this time, and with more force. Naruto was absolutely still in my bag, and I could see the edge of the ally right in front of me, beyond a few more trashcans. Less than a hundred feet away…

Sasuke's fingers curled around my arm and sent the chill up my neck, all the hair on my body seeming to stand on end at the moment.

"That means stop walking." He whispered softly.

I couldn't say anything as he turned me around, but my bag clutched further to my chest. I kept my eyes focused on my sandals and the bare peep of Sasuke's sneakers on my peripheral.

"Why did you leave?" He continued. I shook my head.

"M-my d-dad…" His hand tightened on my arm and I suddenly looked up, biting back the gasp that was about to unfold off of my lips.

His eyes were blood red and swirling up a storm, and even for someone with vision as bad as mine, I could tell it was legitimate and no trick.

"What's in your bag?" He questioned, gesturing to it. I squeezed tighter.

"N-nothing…"

"You were talking to it."

"N-no I w-wasn't!" I laughed, though it choked off, "T-that's crazy! T-talking b-bags! Nuts!" I continued to giggle with growing craziness, hoping that if I acted as hysterical as I felt that it may put him off.

It didn't.

"I'm not talking about that." He deadpanned, "I'm talking about something else. I'm looking for it…do you know what I mean? It's what scared Ume…what you have there in your bag…"

"O-of course n-not…" I said breathily, my laughter ceasing, "a-and even i-if I did, a-acting like that wouldn't get you a-anything f-from me." He smirked dangerously.

"You're awfully brave for such a coward. I should have known someone stupid like you would be the one that idiot got with." Before I could even react his hand had grasped mine, tugging me forward and my bag tumbled to the ground. Sasuke, with his sharp eyes stared at the ring on my finger and his smirk turned into a frown.

"So it _is_ you Naruto."

"OF COURSE IT'S ME, TEME!" I looked down at the ground where Naruto was struggling out of the bag, "Now let her go before you get into more trouble than you're looking for!" Sasuke only shrugged.

"Fine." With a distinct shove I went careening into the pile of empty boxes and trash nearest to me, sending a raccoon darting out from underneath. With hazed eyes I watched as the Raccoon slowly rose up on its hind legs and began to ripple, as though wind was hitting it. All at once, where the raccoon had formerly stood there was none other than a boy in a Panda hat. He looked at me, and for the longest time I couldn't find the words as his pupil-less eyes bore into my own. They were the color of sea foam and rather emotionless. He stood slowly, unfurling from his position and looked at the two having what seemed to be a heated argument I probably should have been paying attention too. With the quietest tread I've ever heard he approached them. I struggled against the boxes and began to stand.

"N-naruto, l-look out!" I cried, just as the boy…raccoon…thing, got close enough. Naruto stopped shouting and looked up.

"GAARA!" He cried, and all at once, Naruto flung himself on the boy, leaving me even more baffled than earlier. I watched, stupefied as Naruto clung to the boy's pant-leg, the boy only staring down before issuing a rather static "Naruto-sama" before picking him up gingerly.

"Are you alright?" He questioned and Naruto nodded.

"Yeah, but this Bastard has been on my tail ever since I got changed into this…where have you been?"

'Gaara' shrugged and I felt myself go light headed at it all.

"Looking for you."

"So, you didn't know where he was either." Sasuke said, stepping closer. Naruto stiffened, as did Gaara who laid a protective hand over him.

"Now isn't the time Sasuke." He replied slowly, "You know you're Master wants Naruto in his regular form." Sasuke didn't even blink.

"Orochimaru doesn't care as long as he gets him."

Gaara held Naruto closer.

"You'll have to wait. Orochimaru won't be able to get anything out of him until then. The spell forbids any tampering from our kind." He went on.

I edged along the wall, glad they were distracted.

"Just where do you think you're going?" Sasuke shouted, just as I neared the set of trashcans that practically landed my way to freedom. Hesitantly, I turned my head, only to be met by all three of their eyes.

"I-…" I started, watching Naruto's eyes plead to me. I sighed and quit trying to run away, "I d-don't know. I d-don't know what's g-going on." Gaara blinked.

"You shouldn't." He glanced at Naruto, "The spell keeps Naruto-sama from telling you."

Sasuke smirked again, this time a little drier, like his lips would split if he exercised them too much. I noticed his eyes had quit spinning and had returned to their usual flat black.

"Tch. Do I have to do everything for you idiots…" he looked at me, not at all pleased and blinked.

"We're not like you, if you hadn't already guessed…" He gestured to Gaara, "This one here is the Land God of a neighboring city, but his shrine got torn down so he went crazy and that dumbass there saved him from killing everything in sight." Gaara shrugged and Naruto fumed silently, unable to retort as Sasuke continued in his quiet, monotone voice.

"Naruto's also a Land God, a rather powerful one at that, and my master wishes to have his power to take control of the spirits of this city…only, it seems that 'Naruto-sama' here, lost a bet and ended up a frog before I got close enough to catch him. Trouble is, I had to wait anyway because Naruto is also a -"

"And what about you, traitor?" Naruto said finally, his shout echoing off of the quickly-dimming and cutting Sasuke off. I stared at Sasuke, and he shrugged, a movement that was proving to be extremely annoying. He opened his eyes and the flickered to red and back.

"I'm just a Devil that got fed up with playing second to an idiot and decided to get some _real_ power."

"No." Naruto said darkly, "No, you sold yourself out for power, power that is going to destroy you Sasuke, no matter what you gain in the process!" I found myself pressing against the wall as the tension built up and the two stared each other down. It was as if Sasuke could see past the form Naruto was in and at whatever…whoever he really was. My throat began to close up as I noticed the sheer energy that passed between the two.

Killing intent. I'd been taught about it all my life. As an heiress, you're constantly threatened with things that could potentially harm you for your money – kidnapping for ransom, burglary, hold ups, mafia hits – anything. I'd been shown the signs and how to recognize it from a very early age, and this was defiantly one of those signs. The two looked like they were going to destroy each other for some reason or another, and there was nothing I could do about it. It suddenly dawned on me that whatever Naruto was, it may not have been as innocent as I had originally ever believed.

This day was proving to just get longer and longer, but at the same time, I couldn't help but realize that maybe this was all just one day in a string of long and complicated times, and what seemed like one day to me was really years to these…things.

"You think I'm still weak? Do I always have to prove it Naruto? Fine. I'll prove it then, that I will always be stronger than you – no matter what form you're in! Maybe I can't steal you, but I'll do something worse…" Sasuke's red eyes turned to me and Naruto lurched forward, constricted by Gaara's hands.

"HINATA!"

I don't remember much except lightning, blinding lighting as the sun began to disappear over the crest of the building. It smelled like ozone in the air as Sasuke grabbed me by the waist and I heard Naruto shout again as Gaara shot out something from his hand. It was rough and swirled around us for the longest time, but Sasuke seemed to see past it…

The only thing I could think of was sand. Sand at the beach, and how it was falling out of my hair as we did something I can't explain. Like one moment we were there, in the ally, and the next we were in a dimly lit stone corridor.

Sasuke said something low, but my head felt really fuzzy.

I only remember lighting, and the sound of Naruto's voice shouting my name above the roar.

Scratch that.

This was the longest day of my life, and things could defiantly, always get worse.

* * *

**I hope you all can be nice and satisfied for the moment! I'm about to leave on a week vacation and won't be able to submit anything till I get home!  
This fic won't be especially long. Five chapters will be pushing it, but each chapter will be probably 4000+ words. The fairytale in itself is quite short, so I hope to stay true to that content as well, although twisting everything up has been way too much fun!  
****  
Have a safe and happy week till I get home!  
xoxo,  
Spoons**


	4. Act Three

**Once Upon A Maybe  
**…A Very Fractured Fairytale…

~ Act Three ~

* * *

The king's daughter began to cry, for she was afraid of the cold frog which she did not like to touch, and which was now to sleep in her pretty, clean little bed. But the king grew angry and said, "**He who helped you when you were in trouble ought not afterwards to be despised by you.**" So she took hold of the frog with two fingers, carried him upstairs, and put him in a corner, but when she was in bed he crept to her and said, "I am tired, I want to sleep as well as you, lift me up or I will tell your father." At this she was terribly angry, and took him up and **threw him with all her might against the wall**. "Now, will you be quiet, odious frog,"

- The Frog Prince

* * *

Someone was talking to me.

"Hanabi…not now…" I grumbled, turning over. My face was met with a starchy pillow – the kind that you find on airplanes – that smelled like disinfectant and old people. The person, whoever it was, growled something and I felt an ice cold hand on my arm.

"Wake up!" My eyelids fluttered open and I was met with Sasuke's blazing eyes; only this time they weren't red, they were just black, but still angry. Upon meeting my gaze he relaxed and folded his arms across his chest, "Took you long enough, idiot, but at least you're still alive." He muttered as I rubbed my eyes with the heels of my hands, watching the fireworks burst across my field of vision.

I was thirsty, and my hair was spread out all over the place, and I was sure that whatever little makeup Ino had forced on me before going into the Karaoke bar was now smeared across half my face, and half the pillow. Sitting up groggily, I fought the urge to puke over the side of the little bed I was on as the vertigo set in. Lurching backwards, I collapsed against the back wall of the room we were occupying, and the one that the bed was pushed up against, and felt relief at the cool tile.

"W-where are we?" I mumbled drowsily, as though I'd taken cold medicine and now my head was all foggy and muddled, but slowly yet surely becoming clearer. Sasuke gave me a look, and puffed out an irritated little breathe.

"I'm not allowed to tell you that." He said slowly, receiving a very definite frown from me.

"I mean it." I whispered, "I-I'm tired of having no clue what's going on." I continued, whatever had messed up my head making me just a little braver than usual. Sasuke rolled his eyes and leaned back against the wall he was standing near.

"We're in one of many hideouts. No one knows where you are, and if someone were to look they'd never find it. It's completely invisible to stupid humans like you." He scoffed and I curled my legs on the bed, fighting back the urge to slam my head against the wall. It was terribly frustrating because no matter what anybody told me it seemed like I still wasn't getting any answers.

"W-what are you?" I asked finally, peering up from my knees where my head was settled, the room having finally ceased its dizzying motions. Sasuke shrugged.

"A devil, a monster, a demon, whatever you want to call it." He blinked and I swallowed thickly, nodding.

"T-then w-why did you join ANBU?" I probed, figuring as long as I had Sasuke's attention I should utilize it to the best of my abilities. Whatever the reason, it would certainly explain his involvement with Naruto, and hopefully that might clear up some of the involvement with me. I had already grasped that Sasuke's appearance and even my own were no coincidence at this point. It was a matter of figuring out all the background noise that was difficult, and Sasuke wasn't exactly the best person to talk to.

"To keep an eye on Naruto. He's been floating around lately – ignoring his duties and leaving his territory for little spurts at a time around the school. I have no idea why. Humans are so boring." Sasuke went on, closing his eyes as if he were exhausted by the whole conversation. My frown deepened.

"Stop that. We're humans – we have feelings." I commented dryly, feeling obligated to defend my race for all it was worth. Sasuke opened one eye and huffed.

"Hn." I continued to scowl and then remembered the brief conversation with Sakura. A heavy groan emitted from me and Sasuke looked perplexed.

"Are you hurt?" I shook my head bitterly.

"S-sakura-chan is going to k-kill me…" I whimpered running my hands over my face in distress. I could feel Sasuke's confusion melt back into its stoic container as he relaxed, "w-when she finds out I l-left with you…she'll b-be so upset…"

"Hn." I lifted my face and glared at him, suddenly aggravated at his blasé attitude and indifference when it was obvious that Sakura-chan bent over backwards just for his approval; but upon seeing his face I saw something I didn't expect.

Perhaps it was only that he was deep in thought, but Sasuke seemed somewhat unhappy, as if something I'd said had suddenly touched a nerve. My dirty look evaporated and I shrunk back into my shell, upset that I'd judged him. After all, he must have been frustrated too given the circumstances. While I'll admit that he was rude about the human's part, it must have been exceptionally lonely at the school where no one knew you and you weren't allowed to really make any friends.

"She really likes you, you know." I stated quietly, poking my fingers together, blushing mad and embarrassed that I was revealing the biggest secret I'd ever been allowed to know, even if it was really obvious, to not only the subject of Sakura-chan's affections, but also to what seemed to be the bad guy at the time. Sasuke stiffened up, digging his shoulders into the wall.

"Humans should stay away from our kind. Mixing them causes nothing but trouble." He stated firmly, before swiping a look at me, "You should know that first hand."

"S-sorry." I said apologetically and Sasuke sighed.

"Hn. Stop stuttering, if I'd wanted to hurt you I already would have."

I blinked at him.

"Why haven't you?" I stated slowly, so as not to stutter as best I could, "And I don't just s-stutter when talking to you…it's everybody." Sasuke flitted his eyes at me briefly.

"Because Orochimaru needs you at the moment, and besides, I can't. That ring is in the way. That stupid idiot has charmed it to hell and back…probably expected all this." I nodded slowly in agreement as Sasuke finished, looking more irritated than angry.

"H-he did say something bad would happen." I poked my fingers again, twirling them over one another as I thought.

"So, Sasuke....Sasuke-san…what is Naruto exactly?" Sasuke didn't open his eyes as he was silent for a long time, before he answered.

"…he's powerful. Orochimaru wants his power. That's all you need to know." I looked at Sasuke; his eyes were opened and he was staring at the far wall, pondering something. I could see the wheels in his mind turning over in his brain. He hesitated for a moment, like he was about to say something but soon his mouth snapped into a thin line that I knew wouldn't divulge anything.

"It's not my place to tell you. If you come across it yourself, so be it." He mumbled at the end before closing his eyes and returning to his statuesque glory. I looked away, considering his words silently, and slightly defeated again at my conquest to gain more knowledge and hopefully a handle on this situation I was in.

The silence stretched for a long time until I felt something different in the room; my head was starting to feel fuzzy again and Sasuke was looking more agitated by the moment, as if he was thinking harder and harder about something that bothered him extremely.

"N-naruto…he'll come after me…won't he?" I asked finally, trying to clear my head to no avail. Sasuke nodded once and his face was grim.

"Yes, though I don't know what he sees in you at all… you're just a stupid human. Spell or no spell. Like I said, our kind and human's aren't meant to be together…" He responded with a tinge of bitterness.

I smiled to myself, suddenly realizing what had been the matter. I opened my mouth and stared at Sasuke, eyes gleaming.

"You say that…but you really like Sakura, don't you?" I could feel Sasuke's surprise but I didn't say anything else, because suddenly I was knocked out.

* * *

According to my watch, I was comatose for three more hours before I jolted awake to a dark room and a splitting headache.

The little table beside me was sparse – a cup of water and an ibuprofen. I grimaced.

Supernatural beings apparently preferred generic brands based on the little title etched onto the pills surface. After smelling it hesitantly and taking in the risk of it being another weird spell, or something to knock me out again, I downed it and instantly the pressure raging against my sinuses and temples cleared, leaving me blinking heavily and finding the room not only brighter, but completely empty.

"Ugh…" I groaned, touching my feet to the freezing floor and dropping my face to my knees, stretching my stiff back. I was a very flexible girl; I'd been taking dance ever since I was small, and though I was clumsy and rather bad at it sometimes, if I practiced enough, I was often more successful than a lot of people would have thought. Anyway, it was like a family tradition – everyone danced or did something similar, although Neji had opted for gymnastics and even made it to an Olympic trial level when he was in high school, but dropped out when he met the pretty ex ribbon-dancer with the silly buns in her hair. That was Tenten if you hadn't guessed by now.

Standing up in one fluid motion, I stared around the little dimly lit place; it was not very big, and very stuffy for being so cold, like we were under ground or something strange like that. The only source of light came from a low burning lamp set into the smooth stone walls with sweeping carvings inlaid. Other than the table and the bed there was no other furniture, and when I began poking around, I realized that not only the room was locked, but it had bars on the window at the top of the door. Jiggling the handle I could feel my heart rate start up.

I had been in a cell the _entire_ time, no matter how innocent the room had initially appeared or even how docile Sasuke seemed, things were definitely more sinister than I could have interpreted alone…I was a prisoner, no doubt about it. What they planned to do with _me _of all people, I had no clue, just that Naruto was probably stupid enough to come after me and that they were most likely using me as some kind of bate.

I didn't have long to contemplate this fact though, because shortly following this startling discovery I heard something on the other side of the wooden separation; the muffled tones of two men talking. Pressing myself flush against the structure I struggled to catch their conversation.

They were standing rather close, and I could make out a few words here and there, and most of them, though not much to my surprise, were about Naruto. He was all they were apparently talking about down here, him and the allegedly inconvenient spell he seemed to be under.

As if they even knew the _meaning_ of the word inconvenient. Inconvenient is when you get smashed by a soccer ball and in a moment of weakness seal your destiny to a talking frog and his remote and detached raccoon sidekick who can spit sand, the most useless of all attacks in my book.

Inconvenient is when what starts out as typical mundane, disappointing, day becomes a fight for your life as you're knocked out _twice_ by a boy with eyes that move and dragged down to his master's layer in the middle of the city you thought was occupied by normal, living, driver humans.

Inconvenient is when you worry how you're friend will react when she realizes that you and her mammoth crush have disappeared for hours at a time without a trace after you promise to tell him she's faithfully waiting back at the karaoke bar. The mammoth crush that happens to be a demon that could probably kill you if he wanted, and is bitterly attracted to said friend.

And yet, here I was, practically growing into the door in a vain attempt to grasp what was going on. There was a lull in the conversation after a while, and I couldn't piece together much of it.

Just that Naruto the Land God was quite a coveted individual, as several people had mentioned before, and that his 'human' was here in captivity, awaiting audience with the so-called 'Lord Orochimaru' in hopes to lure him out and catch him. My face burned.

'His Human' was me.

Fears confirmed, I slunk back from the door and wandered back to the bed, sitting down, pushing my chin into my palm and trying to make sense of all of it.

_I'm a pretty important guy where I come from…a lot of people are out to get me as it is!_

I remembered the little green frog and the way he'd spoken so highly of himself, though not without caution, as if telling me was still a risk to his safety. I sighed, pushing on to the next memory.

_You'll have to keep me with you, you know, for protection…_

Now that was something; for a Frog who could barely take care of himself, and a Land God that seemed good at getting in sticky situations, saying he could protect me was surely a stretch.

But…he had tried. My heart thumped erratically.

_I've been watching you for a long time…_

With another long breath, I laid fully on the bed, racking my brain, coming up with nothing. How long was a long time? What did he even mean by watching? Rolling over, I closed my eyes and let my mind wander, consumed with thoughts of my home and my family – especially that of my grandmother.

_That shrine belongs to a good spirit…a long time ago, people used to bring prayers to it and they would be answered…_

My Grandmother had told me that myth when I was small, around five or six. She was a kind woman with wrinkled hands and a soft face, the opposite of my composed and stiff Father. As a child I had loved curling up in her lap and listening to her tells me stories as she stroked my hair or braided it. It was she who had taught me how to do embroidery and even cook a little, but she had died when I was nine and left me devastated. It was around then that I had started sneaking back to the shrine to do homework or to play alone while my Father looked after Hanabi. As I thought, more and more things began to come to mind, a clock work stream of memories I had pushed back onto the shelves in the darkest corners of my brain.

I can remember slipping the prayers under the door to the shrine, and I can remember kneeling there and asking for my Grandmother back, with all my heart, with all my belief. Before Sakura and Ino had really started being my friends I was a pretty lonely kid. I stayed to myself, focused on dancing and school but not much else. Summertime was always the hardest; we never went anywhere. My Father was too paranoid to travel often and Hanabi was too little; besides, I tended to get sick easily and was much happier piddling around the yard or curled up with a book to make many friends.

But there would be days I would spend all my time there, along with the heat and the sun and the little shrine where nobody went. I was convinced it was my own place; that it was where I could be by myself and make up things to pass the time. A delicious secret; no one ever bothered to look for me, and like I said, a lot of the servants were too afraid to really go near because of the threat of evil spirits.

The irony of their fears hit me as I recalled Sasuke and his glowing red eyes…but I'd never felt anything but happiness there; like someone was watching me, like we were content to be together even though we'd never really spoken or seen each other. I always felt my Grandmother there, amongst the tinkling bells of her wind chimes that she'd put up when my Uncle died. I never felt alone there; there was something comforting about two forgotten people: the spirit and myself, respectively

Friends or something strange like that – an imaginary friend is what Neji had called it when I unabashedly told him that I knew a spirit. Neji had told me to prove it, and of course, I couldn't. Maybe that was when I had started to give up the thought that he actually existed.

But what I remember most wasn't a prayer at all, or even one of Grandma's stories, but a few sentences written on a scratch piece of notebook paper when I was eight.

_Grandma says friends are people who help each other…does that make us good friends? I think so. Maybe one day, I'll be able help you too! I promise! ___

I sat up sharply, staring at the wall in the opposite side of the room. Why had I done that?

All at once it clicked. I was four years old or so, and they'd broken into my room and shoved me into a burlap sack (they being kidnappers pining for a heavy ransom from my Father, and probably rights to the company as well). They'd carried me all the way across the lawn before something…something happened. Someone had intervened, and they'd stopped. I tried to remember, but all I could think of was a flash of yellow through the bag as they dropped me on the grass and I went tumbling out, crying. At that time the night guards and my uncle and father had come running out. The men were already trembling though, and their hands were already up until they shot my Uncle in the chest.

But before that – something had happened.

I could feel the poke of the gun through the fabric of the bag because I was screaming so much.

Something had stopped them.

_The spirit that lives there…he saved you when you were small. He's chosen to look after you Hinata…one day you'll have to help him too - but I hope till then that you are both good to each other. Kind, friendly, good spirits are hard to come by nowadays…no one is around to believe in them anymore._

I had gone straight to the shrine to shove the message under the small sliver of door that was littered with cobwebs and stared at it for the longest time. I was so happy that I had made a friend, I hadn't even cared about what he was, or even if I was just a human girl who believed in old tales from her Grandmother. I was so glad that we were friends, and I'd wanted him to know.

That person…it could have been anyone…but something in my heart told me that it could have been Naruto, even though I had nothing to prove this. It just seemed like fate, or something strange like that...needless to say I didn't know how to feel - should I have been relieved or dissapointed? It hurt my head just to think about it. Besides, my current situation was far more important.

None of that mattered at the moment, and at the moment, I was suddenly imprisoned and to top it all off, was now missing my Grandmother horribly.

What would my grandmother say in all of this anyway?

_People are people no matter what skin they're in Hinata, and it's always best to give them the benefit of the doubt…_

Grandmother wouldn't have been afraid – heck, she probably would have kissed a frog just for the thrill of it. She loved things like that. Spirits and myths and legends were things that had been such a part of her childhood, but when she'd died, all that and all her love had seemed to disappear with her except for all of the belief she'd shoved into me.

Belief that I was finding coming true in too many ways; overwhelming and upsetting ways.

I sat there, a mess of my own misery, rubbing my face and wondering why the timing was always so wonderful in books and movies, but in reality, it couldn't have been worse.

Of all the times to have epiphany, it had to be in a cold cell in a world you didn't know existed less than twenty four hours ago, and on top of it I had something gritty stuck in my eye. Sniffling I pulled my eye lid down, wincing as I yanked an eyelash out by accident. Pausing, forgetting about the piece of grit, I stared at the eyelash.

"I wish that I could help Naruto." I whispered before closing my eyes and blowing.

All at once the ceiling came tumbling down three feet away from where I sat.

To say I wasn't shocked is an understatement.

Practically glued to the wall, I unpeeled myself slowly, watching as the shadowy figure rose to full height and pulled a strange looking object off of its head. Heart beating loudly, I watched as the person shook out the object and coughed, waving its hand around to clear the air.

And after the dust had settled, there stood Gaara in all his zombie-like, deadpan glory. He was wearing the exact same clothes, except now without the panda hat seeing as he was still shaking the sand out of it. Sand, I blanched, was what had been in my eye.

I continued to take in his appearance, from the baggy pants to the red sweatshirt and black sneakers, but as I traveled higher I noticed amongst the unruly scarlet locks of his hat hair were two strange brown things poking out from the crown of his head. He shook out the hat one last time before he raised his head to me, and upon seeing my troubled gaze pointed to the little fuzzy nubs and wiggled them, much to my fascination and awe.

"Ears." He said softly before replacing the cap on top of his head, "The hat helps me blend in better. I don't think anyone like us knows how to make human ones for transformation. They're awfully complicated." I nodded numbly and stood up to stare at the wreckage. The gaping hole showed off a blue sky and soaring birds, but it was a very deep hole, as if someone had to wear away at the earth for a while to get to the actual roof of the room, proving that I had been right and we were in fact underground.

"Did you do that?" I mumbled, not even congratulating myself on the fact that I hadn't stuttered in quite some time. Funny how experiences like these knock those habits right out of you – or maybe it was just that I was the lesser among freaks like Gaara and Sasuke.

Gaara almost smiled but didn't, kicking aside a piece of stone or drywall and stepped onto a cleaner spot on the floor, still beating the sand off of his clothes.

"Yeah. It wasn't hard to find you." He looked up briefly to point to my right hand, "That ring has Naruto painted all over it. His power leaves a very loud imprint." I laughed dryly.

"So I've heard…where is he? Is he safe?"

Gaara blinked and stooped down to start scooping sand back into the huge tan knapsack he carried.

"He's here. He turned himself in after you got taken away, which is just what Sasuke wanted. I tried to tell him you weren't worth it, but he didn't listen," Gaara paused, taking in my worried face, "Naruto really likes you for some reason." I sighed heavily, rubbing my forehead in dismay.

"I thought so, but I had hoped not." I paused and stared at the boy who appeared blindly loyal to the frog and his endeavours. I smiled weakly. "You seem to like him a lot too - Naruto I mean."

Gaara shrugged.

"I owe him a lot. I would be very different if it weren't for Naruto. We're old friends."

There was a low shout however, that prevented me from saying anything else, and at the same time we both looked towards the door where it had come from.

"The guys outside - !" I hissed, listening as the shouts continued and footsteps echoed along the corridor. Gaara stiffened and finished off the last scoop of sand before standing.

"They're going past, they didn't hear me come in; they probably are too concerned with Naruto anyway." With a few loose strides he went to the door and extended his hand. Much to my surprise, the sand wove its way out of his backpack and as he moved his fingers it seemed to bend to his will, manipulating through a crack between the door and the wall. In a few seconds of patient watching, the door unlocked quietly and Gaara peeked out.

"What were you doing just then?" I marveled and Gaara opened the door fully, beckoning me to come along. I noticed his backpack was plastered with what looked like bumper stickers and patches and even a little duct tape, and following behind him I could see the sand shift and move in a little cloud above the drawstring that held it closed as he walked.

"It's the remnants of my old city…sand and some dirt. I can manipulate it because it's under my control, since it's still my land. So if you were wondering, I don't _make_ sand." He explained as we edged along the first in a labyrinth of hallways.

We didn't have too far to look though before we saw the small crowd of people gathering in front of what looked like another cell door like mine, only this one was made of gray stone and had different black and white seals and appeared much more sinister. The back of my neck prickled as we hung back, watching as the handful of guards parted to let Sasuke through holding what looked like a very irritated Naruto.

"So what, you're just going to throw me in here? You can't really do anything can you, because of this stupid spell!" I could hear Naruto's voice and automatically lurched forward, caught only by Gaara's warm arm as he held me back. I looked at him apologetically, but he only stared at the guards, listening intently.

"Just keep him here for now…Orochimaru doesn't know what to do at the moment." Sasuke replied lazily to a guard. I boiled with anger.

"Sasuke and Naruto go way before me or even you. They used to be friends…but Sasuke wanted more power to defeat his brother…it's a very long story, and I don't feel like telling you it, but I wouldn't worry about him. Sasuke won't do a thing to Naruto, no matter how much they bad mouth one another." Gaara whispered and I relaxed a little as Sasuke deposited Naruto and then retreated out of the cell. From our vantage across the hall, I wondered how we weren't noticed, but suddenly I realized that the cloud of sand around Gaara's backpack had slithered out and created a shimmering curtain that was suspended right in front of our bodies, catching and playing on the lighting to make us look like we weren't there. Even my own skin appeared like the filmy image of a mirage when I examined it.

Patiently, we waited until finally, the last guard disappeared and the door to the cell went closed with a heavy click.

Silently, Gaara and I crept forward, the sand going with us, like an invisible bubble that made us flicker across the hallway like heat waves on the asphalt. The closer someone got, the harder it would be to see us.

With skill, Gaara extended his hand once more, and through the same motions he'd used on my own door, the lock clicked open, and the door swung out.

"Gaara? Is that you?" I could hear Naruto's voice from inside and again I started, desperate to see him in one piece and not some chopped up French cuisine of my imagination. Again, Gaara forced me to pause as he walked in first, and I followed; as soon as we entered though, we realized our mistake.

* * *

"Hello Gaara-kun, you're prompt as usual."

I felt my throat go completely dry as I stared into the yellow, slanted eyes of the most poisonous looking man I'd ever seen.

Orochimaru smiled.

"How nice of you to join us, Hinata-sama, we've been expecting you for quite some time."

Orochimaru was a snake of a man, just as Naruto had always referred to him as. Maybe, if his skin had been a little livelier instead of pasty grey, and if his hair wasn't the long, black, limp mop that occupied his head he would probably be what Ino referred to as a 'dangerously handsome' kind of person, but I won't bother going into details because what he looked like wasn't important. What _was_ important was that he had tricked me, and me being the idiot I am, had walked straight into his trap.

He was standing in the center of the cell, holding Naruto in one hand, the other he used to wave at the men standing sentinel just inside the door. They promptly came to my sides and grabbed my arms though I protested strongly before going limp as one grabbed my hair and yanked hard.

"HEY! WATCH IT!" Naruto shouted, though it came out rather strangled due to Orochimaru's constricting grip. The snake man only smiled more and waved over Sasuke, who had somehow appeared behind us. Gaara was standing with guards on either side of him, though they looked hesitant to grab him; his hands were folded in front of him submissively and his back leaned against the wall as if to prove he wouldn't make any sudden movements.

"Now then, Sasuke-kun has told me of a peculiar fact…one I've taken great interest in Hinata-sama."

The man stepped forward towards me and trailed a scaly hand across my face and I felt vomit hit the roof of my mouth – well, maybe not – but still, it was defiantly a 'do not want' kind of situation. He left his fingers cupping my chin and held up Naruto who squirmed and puffed and panted.

"Now, what's all this business of kissing, Hinata-sama?" He whispered, his slanted eyes watching me intently. I stared up at him and blinked.

"K-kiss?" I said, feigning idiocy. The man wasn't easily convinced.

"Don't play coy girl, I know very well that you're the one selected to break the spell…now, I suggest you do as I tell you and hurry on." He turned to the guards and his eyes narrowed still - they released me and I rubbed my arm, wincing at the bruise forming under my turtle neck. Orochimaru swept his eyes over me and chuckled dryly.

"Sasuke-kun was also correct when he said he expected someone far prettier…you really are just an ordinary girl. Quite plain, actually. Naruto prefers much more…unique girls." I blushed and Naruto fumed in his clutches.

"TAKE THAT BACK YOU ASSHAT!" He shouted before turning his blue eyes to me, "Don't believe a word he says Hinata! You're beautiful! A real princess – !" Suddenly, Orochimaru's hand squeezed him harder and he coughed, fighting for a breathe.

"Tut tut. This is dragging out far too much Naruto-sama, so if you would kindly help me, I'd appreciate it so very much if you'd give your little human here a push in the proper direction before something bad happens."

Naruto glared daggers at the man who held him captive and even I could feel the heat of his hatred.

"What? So you can imprison me here and suck up all my power? HELL NO!" He spat, still wriggling, albeit a bit less enthusiastically, as though he was quickly losing his energy to fight back. "I won't be so stupid like Sasuke – I know you just use people in the end!" Sasuke stiffened and his eyes shifted dangerously wavering between black and scarlet. Orochimaru was not amused. With a final fatal grimace he suddenly reeled back and threw Naruto clear across the room, where he smashed into the wall and landed in a little green heap, totally unconscious.

"Pick him up please, this is getting too heated, don't you think, Hinata-sama?" I stared at the unmoving lump and felt worry eat at the edges of my heart.

"What did you do to him?" I cried, running and grabbing his cold little body into my hands. With shaking fingers I looked back to the snake-like man and he blinked innocently.

"Simply a little discipline, Hinata-sama. If Naruto is to become part of my collection, he should learn to behave himself. Now…" in what seemed the blink of an eye he had crossed the room and stood before me, and his hand fisted into my hair yet again. I was beginning to regret growing it out, yelping as he forced me onto my knees with a smirk, "…why don't you just get this over with so we can continue with our plans – or shall I have Kabuto insist in a more direct matter?"

I whimpered again as his nails grated against my scalp and my hair strained in his grasp. My eyes watered and I squinted them at the bespectacled boy in the corner. His glasses flashed as he pushed them up the bridge of his nose and I noticed the faint glow of his fingers as his hand was surrounded by a pale green blade-like light.

"My patience is wearing." He spat, and I instantly understood that the game was quickly coming to an end.

"I w-won't!" I shouted, holding Naruto my chest. Orochimaru emitted something like a sigh and turned to Kabuto; the kid strolled across the room and I felt my eyes widen as he approached, the faint glow turning into a full on burning kind of light against his hand – whatever it was, it rippled with energy and looked frighteningly powerful. I tried to scramble but Orochimaru delivered a reassuring kick to my back and I pitched forward, the only thing separating me from the ground being my hair. Still holding Naruto, I watched, paralyzed as Kabuto came closer and closer until I could feel the hotness of his hand edging towards my throat.

"See? I told you that getting Kabuto involved might prove difficult– now do as I tell you or prepare to have your life taken." Orochimaru said stiffly. I blinked back the threatening tears of fear as I fought for any kind of plausible explanation.

"Just kiss him already!" I heard Sasuke in the background somewhere, but it was as if he were speaking only to me because no one else said anything. I couldn't turn around, but I knew the last time I'd seen him he'd been watching me from his prospective corner, hands folded into the pocket of his school pants, eyes leaking scarlet.

"I-it won't work!" I shouted finally. Orochimaru yanked my hair.

"What did you say?" He hissed and I swallowed thickly.

"T-the kiss! It won't work!" My head went backwards, cricking my neck as I was forced to stare up into Orochimaru's eyes. I felt the words tumble around in my mouth and my palms were sweating as he inspected me before speaking again.

"Go on…" He said slowly and I opened my lips, trying to calm the quivering stutter that had resurfaced.

"T-the kiss won't work i-if there's n-no feelings in it!" I cried weakly, "I don't e-even know Naruto…a k-kiss can't d-do anything if it's just a k-k-kiss!" I could feel myself babbling as Orochimaru's eyebrows rose a fraction and he blinked, and I felt relief rush over me that maybe whatever I was coming up with made enough sense to prompt Kabuto to withdraw his hand blade and even the grip on my hair loosen.

"I could kiss anybody I liked!" I continued frantically, "It wouldn't change them into someone else, not if there isn't anything behind it! Isn't that what they say in f-fairytales? T-true loves kiss?!"

Orochimaru suddenly grimaced.

"You're lying – that ring you have has true love written all over it as well as Naruto's signature – Kabuto finish the job - !"

"WAIT!" I interjected holding up my trembling hand and pushing it out to Orochimaru, "It's not mine! I swear! It's my cousins; he wanted me to hold it! It's for his girlfriend! It's not mine! I-I dropped it in the pond and Naruto tricked me into helping him! I promise! He tricked me and now I'm stuck with him! I have no clue what's going on, I don't know who you are, and I have never met Naruto before in my life!"

Now what I was saying wasn't entirely true, but it wasn't a lie either. I _didn't_ know Naruto – because I hadn't even really found any concrete evidence he was the spirit I had connected with all that time ago, and to be quite honest, I was starting to unconvinced myself he was even related to those moments. He was too loud and brash for that, not the gentleness I used to feel. And it was true – he had tricked me…but then again, I suppose at the same time I'd been tricking him just to get the ring back.

All in all, it was all a giant misunderstanding from what I could tell – and never in my life had I had so many people so eager to see me kiss someone before – I mean really, this Orochimaru and even Sasuke gave Ino and Sakura a run for their money. The only possible comparison would be my Father, but that was simply because he was not very confident I'd ever marry, let alone find a boy to kiss. The problem was, unlike Naruto, I couldn't convince the shadow king holding me captive in an underground, devil-prison that I was saving that kiss for 'The Boy' and was still reluctant to bestow it to a cold little frog like Naruto, even if he was a Land God.

"Then how do you expect me to compensate for letting you go, Hinata-sama?" Orochimaru said, dropping me to the floor, "If you're as innocent as you say you are, then surely there must have been something that you could tell me to help…amend this situation for _myself_. That is to say, if you were lying, how could I find another way to get Naruto back to his – how do you say –_ proper_ form."

I struggled to get up and staggered: my back roaring with pain from where he'd kicked me before, only to draw a blank.

"I-I don't know…h-he didn't say anything else…" I mumbled, and Orochimaru smiled venomously.

"Well then Hinata-sama, I suggest you start getting to know Naruto, because my patience is wearing thin." He looked me straight in the eye and I flinched, but to my relief he turned around and waved the rest of them out of the room, including Gaara, although he was flanked heavily by guards on either side. As he left, Sasuke threw one shady glance at me, and for a moment I could almost detect worry in his eyes, but then it passed into something more like pity and then finally his stony, familiar expression.

The door to the cell closed with a tight bang and I found myself clothed in darkness, still shaking and feeling extremely violated. The lock rattled into place and I could make out Orochimaru's eyes in the small slot on the front, penetrating the black and straight into me.

"You don't have much time, Hinata-sama…I suggest you start thinking of ways to fall in love before I decide to take matters into my own hands." The slot closed and everything was night.

I collapsed against the cold wall and felt anger eat away at my insides.

"Where am I?" I looked down at Naruto who was starting to rub his eyes beside me and deflated.

"Captured." I mumbled, leaning my head back and massaging my skull tiredly.

"Damnit. Well, it'll certainly be a pain to get out of this…" I turned wearily to Naruto who appeared to be formulating some kind of plan in his small head.

"Don't get a head of yourself." I scolded gently poking him. Once again he stumbled backwards and I smiled, exhausted, "It's your fault I'm in all this mess." Naruto only rolled his eyes and hopped forward into my palm.

"Not _entirely_ you probably would have dropped the ring without my help." My eyes widened as I dropped him instantly, sending him reeling backwards and hitting the stone with a dull plop.

"Y-you…y-you did what?!" I shouted, staring him down menacingly. Naruto shrugged sheepishly.

"I had to get your attention_ somehow_! What better way than to…well…you know, bend a little fate, eh? I t was really pretty easy…the boys looked pretty surprised though; that soccer ball wasn't aimed at you at all...you should have seen their faces!" Naruto said, laughing at the end. I flushed and turned my body away from him, burying my head back into my knees, trying to stifle my tears and my disgust.

I'd been duped.

By a frog.

A frog that wanted to kiss me.

"Hinata? Hina-chan…I'm sorry. Really, I am… I should never have gotten you into this…" I sniffled and rubbed my eyes against the fabric stretched across my kneecaps.

"N-no." I whimpered, "Y-you shouldn't have. I have e-e-e-e…" I couldn't stop hiccupping into my word before it finally came out of my mouth, "e-enough trouble as it is." I heard Naruto shuffle himself on the ground beside me and I let out another shaky cry.

"You want to talk about it?" He asked hesitantly, "We don't have anything else to do at the moment…" I raised my head.

"W-why ME?" I asked, staring straight down at Naruto. "I w-want to know r-right n-now!"

Naruto was quiet for a very long time.

"…well...I can't really tell you."

"Y-yes you can." I whispered, "You just won't."

"No really!" Naruto protested, waving his hands, "It's this dumb spell, it won't let me say anything at all!" I sighed.

"F-fine."

"Are you still mad?" Naruto continued, putting his hands on my foot and looking up at me. I softened instantly as his eyes wavered with guilt.

"No, but this is way more than I bargained for." I said finally, picking him up again. He grinned back at me.

"Yeah, I could understand that…hey, you didn't stutter at all then!" He exclaimed looking surprisingly chipper for someone who was being imprisoned. I smiled back at him, trying my best to let his contagious mood wash over me.

"Guess I'm just too tired." I said softly, wondering myself why I hadn't. Naruto just beamed at me some more and then suddenly hopped down to the floor as my hand began to go limp.

"You can sleep now Hina-chan, I'll watch out for you..." Naruto said somewhere. I nodded.

"Hai." I mumbled, settling into an honest sleep for the first time in what seemed like years. I dreamt of my Grandmother, and I dreamt of Naruto, and I dreamt of the shrine and a golden light and a gentle voice that said my name. I saw the Wednesday boy and he held up the little slip of paper that held my scribbled message to the shrine spirit out to me with a happy laugh. I smiled to myself in my dreams, a question suddenly bubbling up from my mouth.

"Ne…Naruto-san…my Grandmother says that friends are people who help each other…does that make us good friends?"

"No. But it makes you vulnerable."

My eyes shot open and my dizzy eyes went everywhere, jerked out of their sleep until at last they landed on Sasuke. He smirked, but it looked frayed against his face. Cold sweat broke out across my skin as he grabbed Naruto and a guard grabbed my own arms.

"Time's up."

* * *

**Hope you all had an excellent week without me! I am quite tan now, I must say :]**

**Again, the chapter ends with Sasuke...that silly little thing!  
Look forward to a fight - lots of fireworks.**

**xoxo,  
Spoons**


	5. Act Three: Finale

**Once Upon A Maybe  
**…A Very Fractured Fairytale…

~ Act Four ~

* * *

"Yesterday as I was in the forest sitting by the well, playing, my golden ball fell into the water. And because I cried so,  
the frog brought it out again for me, and because he so insisted, I promised him he should be my companion,  
but **I** **never thought he would be able to come out of his water**. And now he is outside there, and wants to come in to me."

- The Frog Prince

* * *

It's funny; really, it's alright to laugh at this.

At least, that's what I was telling myself as the burly man pushed me and prodded me down the hallway, Sasuke holding the very agitated Naruto at arm's length, both of them going at each other in gruff, hushed voices. Sasuke spoke through clenched teeth, and his eyes were shifting faster than ever, something that seemed to happen only when Naruto was around to instigate it. Silently, I tried to take in my surroundings, anything to pre-occupy my mind and perhaps facilitate if the chance to get out of here ever presented itself.

The room they brought us too was enormous; far bigger than any ballroom I'd ever been in, and I had been in some big ones. It dwarfed us all – making us merely pinpricks amongst the carved stone and burning torches that made everything glow eerily in a very dark, ancient way. Orochimaru was seated casually at a long table, fist gently upholding his sallow cheek as he watched our little parade shuffle in. With a snap of his fingers I was released, pushed forward onto my knees, the bones rattling against the cold floor making me hiss in air through my teeth.

"Tut tut! You look so surprised, the both of you…did you really think I was being serious at all about all that true love business? Well, dear. I would have thought both of you smart enough to understand a bit of dungeon humor, ne?" Orochimaru drawled as the Guard watched me grit my teeth and steel myself against the pain.

"Watch it." Naruto growled and I got up shakily, stumbling.

"You're wondering why I'm keeping you alive…especially after threatening to kill you I suppose." Orochimaru said softly, head tilting as he stood and walked to me, his hands folded behind him as he surveyed me. He chuckled, and it sounded like the stuttered 'S-S-S' of a snake. He let his hair fall over half of his face as he leaned in closer.

"To be quite honest Hinata-sama, I had all the intent in the world to kill you. It would have allowed the opening of more opportunities, more forceful, painful techniques I've learned. You were simply a matter of convenience…but thanks to Sasuke-kun's intelligence, he's reminded me that you could prove useful yet as perfectly good leverage."

"What does that mean?" I protested, still trying to gain my balance as my knees ached. Orochimaru waved me off, already moving on.

He straightened and I felt myself blanch, watching him direct himself past me to Sasuke, trailing a skeletal hand affectionately down his shoulder. The whole time Sasuke just stood there and took it; face impassive, Naruto seething as he fingered the material of Sasuke's shirt.

"Such tacky material…" He mused, as though the whole situation was an everyday occurrence that allowed for such changes of subject.

"Whatever you're planning on snake, you can bet it won't work!" Naruto shouted and Orochimaru's face dropped into a frown.

"Don't speak too soon Naruto-sama, a good Land God ought to know when to hold its tongue; but then again, Jiraiya didn't teach you any manners, now did he?" Naruto went beet red with fury and even I fell back a bit.

"Leave that pervy-sage out of this!" Naruto spat, froggish limbs straining against Sasuke's never changing hold. Orochimaru's mouth lifted back up into a shallow smirk, one that seemed a tad unconvincing.

Even _he_ treaded softly around Naruto, and for the life of me, I couldn't understand why. How much damage could one frog do?

"Did I hit a tender spot perhaps? Tell me Naruto-sama, what on Earth does he think he's proving putting such power in such a pitiful container? Truly, I do want to know why you are as you are. Were you unable to subdue him? Or perhaps, you were too afraid?" Naruto trembled as Orochimaru egged him on, and I watched with wide, silent eyes, taking it all in as it unfolded around me.

"He…It's…NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS!" He roared, but I could see the shreds, the barest threads of anger for this person that were beginning to surface. Orchimaru's smirk deepened as he gained his footing and I instinctively opened my mouth to say something, but the guard still behind me clapped his huge hand over my face and Sasuke let his eyes flit to me and then back to the conversation going on right before him. I struggled against the hand and then gave up, but my fingers engaged in an unrelenting battle to pry the saucer-sized thing off of my mouth. Naruto continued to fume but something was changing.

Something in the air was beginning to change. Kabuto, the kid who'd tried to kill me before (or was that all just charade? I wouldn't ever be really sure), sensed it, stiffening slightly.

"You know, don't you, Naruto-sama, that here you would have all the power in the world. I would never subjugate you to anything such as this, this humiliation, this torture…" Naruto growled something unintelligible and my eyes squinted in confusion. The whole air popped and fizzed slightly, like someone had lit a sparkler. Orochimaru looked theatrically taken-aback, stepping backwards and placing his arms on his chest defensively.

"You don't believe me do you? Well then…how about your friend Sasuke demonstrates just how much _good_ I could do for you."

I watched as Naruto was deposited into another set of waiting hands and Sasuke moved to a more open spot.

In horror I witnessed just what _power_ meant.

The lighting sparked around him, permeating the air and striking down the table, rattling the dishes that occupied it, but it didn't end just there. From the smallish point of his neck, slightly behind his ear, a small symbol rotated and spread down his body in a patchwork of shifting black masses. They engulfed him, consuming his whole body. His clothes rippled from the energy and dust flew up from the floor as his body mutated; the handsome, devilish boy vanished, replaced by the hard, cement grey skin and to the worst of my imagination, the wings that ripped out of the back of his shirt.

I couldn't shriek as they unfolded, the spiky-hand like appendages that emerged, unfurling and flapping. His hair was wild and his eyes spun frantically, making me dizzy. But it was different. Where whatever Naruto produced seemed warm, what Sasuke made was darker – colder. Something was there, some kind of deep-seeded pain that made the shadows spin around him; the torches flickered and Sasuke smirked, his fangs glistening.

"Impressive isn't it…" Orochimaru whispered, and I tore my eyes away from the place where Sasuke stood and my frantic eyes landed on Naruto, who was frozen. The snake continued to speak to him, his voice low and hypnotic.

"You could be equally as powerful…consider it Naruto-sama, reunited with your beloved friend…the one you called brother. You could help me…or rather, I could help you Naruto-sama. We could unlock your fullest potential, the very roots of your power, and the very essence of what you are. The pain, the anger, the hurt of the city that abandoned you…all of it, exploited. You could be their _God_ again."

I struggled.

It wasn't right. No. Naruto wasn't evil. He wasn't bad. I may not have known much, but I knew that what this fiend was spilling was nothing but trouble. Naruto didn't hear me, or maybe it was that he couldn't. I fought but the Guard subdued me, with the help of his goon friends.

"Can't you imagine it? The humanity that cast you aside as a petty _myth_. Consider this Naruto-sama…" Orochimaru suddenly turned and looked at me, shockingly pleasant in his attitude.

"Let him see her." He said and I was let go. I panted and the urgency bubbled to my throat.

"NARUTO! This guy…this…guy he's, he's nuts! INSANE! He tried to kill me; he threw you against a wall! Don't listen to me!" I said, waving my arms frantically. Naruto blinked and Orochimaru's eyes narrowed.

"Are you really going to believe her? She's just one of them, a petty human. One of thousands Naruto-sama. Even if she _is_ important to you, she isn't your friend. She forgot you just as they all did, didn't she." My hands fell to my sides.

"T-that's n-not t-true!" I stuttered, trying to gain control, "I didn't know!"

Orochimaru smiled.

"Insignificant. She didn't know _you_ Naruto-sama. To her, you are nothing but a legend, a story she grew out of." Naruto stared at me, eyes wide.

"Hina-chan?" I shook my head.

"That's not t-true N-naruto! I…I…I"

"She wanted to get rid of you Naruto-sama... She tricked you to get that ring back, didn't she? She isn't interested in you. You're just a frog Naruto-sama. She tried quite valiantly to get out of here when you were subdued." He continued and Naruto's face fell a fraction.

"Y-you subdued him!" I cried, but Orochimaru only smiled.

"_I_ have always respected Naruto-sama's true power, what was I to do? He was becoming a bit too much for me to handle."

"He's lying…" I said weakly, already acknowledging that I was losing ground, but the strength pushed against my belly, "W-what's so wrong with humans a-anyway? We feel, just the same as you!" I accused and the snake lord blinked.

"You are fleeting, a blip on the radar…you look to us, the spirits of nature, for everything. This is true, especially of you, isn't it Hinata-sama. You were saved by Naruto-sama as a child, and looked to him as you grieved for your Grandmother, and yet, you could not repay a simple favor as you'd promised…" My mouth dropped open.

"I…I knew it…" I marveled, "It was…it _was _you…" But Naruto was no longer looking at me in the same way. His eyes were sad.

"Hinata." He murmured; the air popped and fizzed and I felt the tears prick my eyes.

"N-no…Naruto, I didn't…I didn't know…"

"All she saw was a disgusting frog Naruto-sama." Orochimaru finished and Naruto's eyes grew even sadder.

"I thought you'd be the one." He whispered, "I thought you'd be the one to help me…I thought…" He trailed off and Orochimaru interjected.

"She doesn't want to kiss you Naruto-kun, she never did. She wants to kiss someone else entirely, a boy she's never even _met_." The tears threatened. I didn't mean it that way. I just…I didn't know anymore! I wanted to help, I really did, but how could I? They were right, I was just a girl.

But something ate at me, gnawed at me, a big black ball of guilt. It took over I guess.

"NARUTO! P-please don't believe him! I-I don't even… I don't even care about him anymore…" Naruto's expression wavered.

"Don't say that Hina-chan, _please_ don't say that." He whispered, and I could hear the agony in his voice. I really should have listened, but I couldn't help it.

"I DON'T CARE ABOUT HIM!"

You know those times in movies when everything slows down and it focuses on two people? Normally, it happens right as someone is about to die, or right as they're about to fall in love, or right as someone is getting shot.

Everything slows down and it's just you. I guess what happened next was a lot like that.

Naruto was staring at me and the tear was running down my cheek.

"I just wanted to be your Prince."

The words rang against my entire being. They echoed over every memory, every tear I'd ever cried, every time I'd ever been alone, every moment I'd found the courage to make a friend, when I met Ino and Sakura, when I was sobbing for my Grandmother, when I felt as though my Father was so disappointed in me he couldn't look my way, when I was convinced that I was the worst heiress on the planet. I felt it all around me, it bounced around the room, it ruffled my bangs, and it tickled my ear and my face, like a great exhale of air.

And then it all exploded.

* * *

Where Naruto had once been there was nothing but a fiery mass, so bright and hot it seared the floor. The poor guy holding him had been obliterated and Orochimaru was looking on in awe as it all unfurled, and I could make out a stooped over, animalistic figure within the ball of flames.

I recalled Sasuke's explanation that it wasn't his place to talk about Naruto's true form…I wonder if that was because he was a scared as I was.

Naruto was blinding, and after a few moments my eyes began to water and I shielded my eyes as Sasuke charged at him, the lightning crackling in the air, but dwarfed in comparison to Naruto's own raging inferno. The tears hit the back of my hands as I stared at the floor, blocking out the roar. I didn't even realize I was crying.

_  
This has gotten a bit out of hand…_  
The voice in my head was foreign because it didn't sound like my conscience, and it sure as heck didn't sound like Sasuke, who was a bit preoccupied at the moment. Dazed, my instincts told me to find the face of the person speaking, but as I looked up, I saw no one. The gravely, swampy voice went on, as though exasperated and I fought the urge to sob at the insanity of it all.

Would it ever end?

_You know what you have to do now…this is your fault after all_…

"MY FAULT?" I hissed as the battle raged behind me. A helpless guard went slamming into the opposite wall and the table had since caught on fire as Naruto continued to assault anything that moved. Whatever Orochimaru had done, he had planned it, and now he had unleashed Naruto's full potential as he said, and it was about to bring the house down.

_You rejected him flat out…not quite a good idea._

"What are you talking about?" I continued trying to focus on the voice that was going dimmer, as if it were leaving, "I didn't reject him at all! I said I didn't care – !" The voice cut me off, impatient.

_Do what you meant to do…prove it to him. It's the only way you'll end this…_

The voice trailed off and I was left alone again, the sound infiltrating the room ballooning over me and roaring back into my brain. I turned over my shoulder and quickly turned back as Naruto skidded, his outline the only distinguishable thing within the mass of flames that shrouded him, his slide across the floor leaving deep cracks and crevices in the stone, as though ripped by claws.

No. This was way out of my hands now; this was far beyond my reach. Whatever had happened, even if it was my fault, there was nothing I could do now. The tears continued and I just tried to block out the sounds.

This wasn't my fault. It had all started with that stupid ring…if that stupid ring hadn't fallen in…if Naruto hadn't made the ball – no, if Neji had never given it to me in the first place. My eyes instantly went to the small band. I stared at it for the longest time.

"_As long as you wear that ring…_" "_Naruto's signature is all over that…"_

"The ring." I whispered, staring at the little simple band that hadn't left my finger all this time, a constant reminder of Naruto throughout this ordeal.

_I just wanted to be your Prince_.

"Prove it to him…" I muttered and then suddenly, like a wave, the epiphany hit me. The reason he couldn't tell me anything, the reason the spell had to be broken the way it was, the reason he'd known about the Wednesday boy.

It all became painfully clear - I had to love him for who he was. I had really rejected him, a part of him, even though that was just one part of many to Naruto, it still made the spell go haywire. It had only been because I'd previously known him all along that I was the one to break it, it was because I had to see that part of him, and accept the froggish parts.

Epiphanies were a funny thing; they seemed to happen at inconvenient times, especially for me.

Raising myself off the ground, I stared at the pair continuing to duel it out, and watched as Orochimaru talked lowly, positioning Guard's strategically around them. They were all doing something with their hands and great streams of Kabuto's green hand stuff was pillowing out and snaking across the floor towards Naruto. I was about to make it very clear just what I meant by 'A kiss that had nothing behind it couldn't do anything'.

There was no more time for hesitance. Running, it was easy to get passed the Guards that were backing up, away from me. Besides Sasuke, I seemed to be the only person bent on getting towards the fray, everyone else had learned that it was better to evade as oppose to invade their space. With a rush of courage I picked up my speed, rocketing across the huge room, as though my feet were on fire.

I would prove it, once and for all, that I could do something, even if I was a human girl. My wish was slowly coming true. I was going to help Naruto, finally, the best way I knew how.

As soon as I got close enough, I realized I was raising the bonds, or whatever they were hell bent on using to capture him. With a jump I kicked out my shoe and used it to distract the Guard across from me. It flew across the ground and I skidded slightly before getting closer. The air was burning like a candle flame and it smelled like cinders but I didn't care. I didn't care at all.

It was the most comforting smell in the world to me. Tears burned my eyes and streamed behind me as the green wavered, my shoe flying past the Guard's head and temporarily putting him off, which seemed to throw off the groove of everyone else. I leapt over the trickle of green and could start to define Naruto more clearly, though he and Sasuke were still going at it, ready to kill one another.

"SASUKE – THE GIRL!" Orochimaru yelled, and Sasuke turned to me for one blink of an eye. His eyes, so menacing, washed over me, but instead of pulling me down, they broke over me like a waterfall, like a curtain I could push past. He made a move, but I ducked down and he was too late. I was already there.

For the second time, my life, which was turning out to be more and more like a fantasy manga with every step, slowed to a screeching halt.

I felt my foot flex as I pushed off the ground and propelled myself towards the one person that mattered. I didn't care. I didn't care if he was a toad, or a burning fury, flaming ball that would probably kill me, or at least scar me for life.

I didn't care that the tears were blurring my vision, or that he looked pretty frightening bathed in red.

He was still Naruto. _The_ Naruto, _my_ Naruto.

My arms outstretched as he turned over his shoulder to watch Sasuke. I smiled, drifting towards him until my arms entered the flame and wound around his neck. He instantly stiffened, and I watched his eyes go wide.

"_Baka…_" I whispered into the sound that engulfed me, _"You were always my Prince…from the very start…"_

But that last part must have come out muffled, because my hands had locked around him, and my lips were pushed firmly against his own.

I wondered then, right before the light that wasn't red, but golden, if this was how Tenten felt when she went flying out of the window, if this is what it felt to be free to love someone, even if it meant you were scared. If this is what she felt when she left Neji, if she was so scared and apprehensive but at the same time assured that he would miss her…something strange like that. Like it was all a fairytale, and no matter what there was the insurance that you would all get out alright. I wondered, and then there was nothing but warmth and I felt very happy – so happy my heart was about to erupt.

Like I had passed the test, like I had won the game, like I had finally done something right.

It was like walking straight into the sun.

* * *

Even when we went tumbling backwards I could feel it, even when Naruto fell onto his side, skidding, and taking me with him. My knees didn't even hurt anymore

"Hina-chan!" Naruto shouted, hugging me so tightly I couldn't breathe, "HINA-CHAN I KNEW YOU WOULD DO IT!" He shouted over and over, "I knew it! I knew it!" My eyelids drooped as my head fell backwards from his shoulder.

"Naruto-kun…" I muttered looking up into his bright blue eyes. It was the Wednesday boy, but I had already figured that out. I knew the instant I kissed him. The instant our lips touched, our fate was sealed. I knew then why I had been so desperate to talk to him – to give him my first kiss.

I had just taken the long-way round – bent a little fate as Naruto put it. I smiled at the anticlimactic part of it all as I grasped his cheeks in my hands, pinching them together. In his happiness he didn't even waver just beaming at me from there on the floor, still emitting that wonderful golden light. He was ten kinds of trouble, he was a toad, he was a monster, he was a friend, he was a weekday treasure, he was a trickster, he was a failure, he was a believer, he was crazy, he wasn't even part of this world, but that didn't bother me one bit.

No, it didn't even faze me, because all I could see was his blue eyes smiling down into mine, and I couldn't help but smile back.

"…Naruto-kun, you're just going to have to do." I finished, before dragging his face down to mine.

Ino once told me "you have to kiss a lot of frogs before you find your Prince…" I always waved it off as a fairytale, but it seems my life decided to take a more direct route as Orochimaru might have put it.

Once upon a maybe, I lost a ring, was imprisoned, got sand in my eyes, witnessed a battle of supernatural proportions, kissed a frog, and married a Prince, so to speak – and all in less than a handful of days.

Once upon a maybe, I fell head over heels, or more specifically, heels over head for a talking toad under a damnation of a spell.

Once upon a maybe, I proved that I loved him despite all that…

…and once upon a maybe, they all lived happily ever after.

Now, you might be wondering: "What happened after all that happily ever after?"  
Well, I'll tell you now it isn't nearly as interesting as the story itself.

Tenten and Neji got married, but they let me keep the ring. Tenten says it smells like pond water now.

Sasuke is still attending ANBU, under the pretext that he was surveying me, but it's pretty clear what I said about Sakura stuck. Apparently, humans aren't as useless as he said they were.

Orochimaru has opened a fortune shop downtown; Naruto basically obliterated his hide out and his pride is pretty tarnished as of now. Kabuto went to medical school.

I never met Jiraiya, but I still hear his voice from time to time, especially when I least expect it.

As for Naruto? Starting that summer we decided to move his shrine and now people come all the time to leave prayers thanks to its new location and local advertising. He likes to pretend he's the monk that cares for it, but I think the kids are all on to him, especially when he decides to start fires randomly with the snap of his fingers.

Gaara is still Naruto's faithful servant. According to Sasuke, he escaped moments after they took him out of Naruto's cell left by turning into a raccoon and biting the guard and running out. To this day, Orochimaru still doesn't know how he got inside in the first place.

Iruka-sensei our homeroom teacher ended up getting a date with the volleyball coach, Anko, and she has somehow intimidated him into a second one. Kakashi-sensei still doesn't know what to do with himself, and Ino fights off Kiba every chance she can, continuing to wear her red hood up whenever possible, especially since they were assigned the same architecture project during the last quarter of the year – they were supposed to design three model houses out of three different materials, but when they presented, Kiba had the flu and ended up sneezing over the first two, leaving only the paper-Mache one standing.

My Father, after finally calling off the search squad when I returned home, as somehow realized that maybe I'm not cut out for heiress at all and has begun training my younger sister Hanabi, but I can't really say I mind.

With all this extra time, I've been able to focus on my writing – particularly a bit of an account of all that's ever happened to me, so maybe one day when Naruto and I are old, I can look back and remember just how much trouble he really is (if I ever forget).

And that, is exactly what you have just finished reading.

**The End**

**

* * *

**

The frog answered, "I do not care for your clothes, your pearls and jewels,  
nor for your golden crown, but **if you will love me** and let me be your companion and play-fellow,  
- if you will promise me this I will go down below, and bring you your golden ball up again."

...

"Oh yes," said she, "**I promise you all you wish,** if you will but bring me my ball back again."

...

But when he fell down **he was no frog but a king's son with kind and beautiful eyes**.  
Then he told her how he had been bewitched by a wicked witch, and how no one could have  
delivered him from the well but herself, and that tomorrow they would go together into his kingdom.

...

- The Frog Prince

* * *

  
**Thanks for sticking with this little adventure! School's about to start for me again, so I wanted to make sure I wrapped this up with a funny little ending!  
I liked it a lot, it was really fun to write! Hope you all enjoyed it as a little summer snack!  
****  
I look forward to writing more soon, but I want to know if you all have any requests?**

Please review before you fave!

xoxo,  
Spoons!


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